Ha!
Two examples of cruel clarity. First, Robert Kagan at the Washington Post:
The turmoil in Iran since last week’s election has confused the foreign policy debate here in the United States in interesting ways. Supporters of President Obama, who until very recently had railed against the Bush administration’s “freedom agenda” and who insisted on a new “realism,” have suddenly found themselves rooting for freedom and democracy in Iran. And in their desire to attribute all good things to the work of President Obama, they have even suggested that the ferment in Iran is due to Obama’s public appeals to Iranians and Muslims.
If so, this will be one of those great ironies of history. For, in fact, Obama never meant to spark political upheaval in Iran, much less encourage the Iranian people to take to the streets. That they are doing so is not good news for the president but, rather, an unwelcome complication in his strategy of engaging and seeking rapprochement with the Iranian government on nuclear issues.
I dunno about you, but I’ve found in a career fraught with conflict that there are few things more conducive to advancing one’s own goals than confusion and consternation in the opposition’s camp. Theoretically, that makes the current upheaval in Iran a twofer.
Obama and the mullahs stand to be flummoxed by history, while freedom-loving idealists here and in Iran could actually win out over the gaga-eyed innocence of the One and the squinty-eyed cynicism of those others. Kagan, though he stops short of suggesting where this might lead, does a masterful job of laying out the ugly truth … tragic flaws, inanity, impotence and all … of Obama’s morally and geopolitically bankrupt strategy. Read the whole thing.
Meanwhile, via Iowahawk, here’s a special message to the people of Iran from President Barack Obama himself, as you can see from the title and the byline:
A Special Message to the People of Iran
By Barack Obama
President of the United StatesGreetings. As president of United States — or, if you prefer, the Great Satan — I have have been following with keen interest the vigorous post-election debate and vibrant political dialogue which has been taking place in your great and noble Islamic Republic of Iran over recent days. It has been both educational and fascinating, and as a sports fan I have thrilled to the pageantry, the suspense, and the fast-paced, hard-hitting action.
Obama, despite the careful diplomatic language, reveals himself as never before in this key epistle, and you’ll want to read that whole thing, too. I’d just like to say I am deeply honored that a post from this site, Jules Crittenden’s Forward Movement, is linked in this important message. I’d add that President Barack Obama, in choosing Iowahawk as his vehicle to speak to the people of Iran, clearly recognizes how wildly popular Mr. Dave Burge’s site is among freedom-loving peoples of the world and how critical it has been to advancing global peace and understanding, especially during the Bush years when America was viewed negatively in the world by morons. The president’s Iowahawk affiliation also demonstrates how “hip” and “web-savvy” he is, much like his widely admired 2008 campaign.
Entertaining, these twin pantsings, though none of this business is really very funny at all, as it appears the leader of the free world, as predicted by the likes of his own secretary of state in her previous incarnation, doesn’t really have a viable game plan. The only bright spot is that his opposite numbers appear to have been too clever by half, creating this moment in which history might confound theiir worst efforts.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:20 pm on Wednesday, June 17, 2009
6 Responses to “Ha!”
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June 17th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
[...] (Left) seems to fairly well mirror my own opinion; Jules Crittenden (Right) on the other hand, takes the OPPOSITE position of the majority of our Founding Fathers while the apparently “saner” Hot Air (Right also) offers an interesting and newsworthy [...]
June 17th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Oh, this is just our pragmatic President. You just aren’t getting the nuance of his message. Ha!
June 18th, 2009 at 9:39 am
So do I understand this right: According to the WaPo and other Obama cheerleaders, Obama somehow reached out to democratically inclined Iranians by kissing the collective backsides of the non-democratic regimes in the area? Engagement with dictators and oligarchs has somehow created a democratic movement in Iran? Truly, how self-delusional do you have to be to believe something like that?
The Iranian people have been pushing for true democracy for over a decade, and that has nothing to do with Obama. Obviously the short term suppression by the ruling theocracy is coming to a head. And who knows? Maybe that old McChimpyBushHitlerMoron was on to something after all with all of the talk about an Iraqi democracy serving as an example and inspiration to others in the region.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Did you here about NBC’s lie about President Bush last night?
http://www.jourtegrity.blogspot.com
June 19th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Perhaps Wellington’s best quote was the one he gave towards the end of the battle, when the French were falling back in great disorder from the Imperial Guard’s attack being repulsed, and Wellington decided to send his battered army to launch a counterattack, remarking, “In for a Penny, in for a Pound!”
One of his junior officers, Captain Johnny Kincaid of the 95 Rifles (Greenjackets) had two insightful comments as well. During the battle, where he fought at the hard pressed center near what would be called Wellington’s Elm Tree by the main road to Brussels, Kincaid noticed the heavy casualties on both sides and wondered “if there had ever been a battle in which both sides had all been killed. If not, this looked to be the first one.” After the French had left the field, Kincaid asked the littlest soldier in his unit what that soldier thought of the day’s events. The reply:
“I shall be hanged if I know, sir, for all day long I was ridden over and trodden upon by every scroundrel that had a horse.”
The literacy of the officer corps on all sides, even reaching unevenly into the untutored rank and file, is astounding and makes for great reading even to this day. Barbero’s book is magnificent and reads well for such a confused, pitched battle. Thank you for remembering Waterloo Day, which last year was a day touched by tragedy. The warehouse foreman at our water district received word that his son, a corpsman serving in Afghanistan, had been killed in action. Global consequences for local people never ceases.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Not only his own SecState, but his own VP predicted this.
“It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America.
“Watch. We’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.
“And he’s going to need help . . . to stand with him. Because it’s not going to be apparent initially; it’s not going to be apparent that we’re right.”