Religion-Clinger/Other-Disliker Tour 2009
President Obama is off on a big, photogenic feel-good tour to the uncharted regions of religion-clinging, other-dislikers. No, not backwoods Pennsylvania, silly. The Vatican and Ghana. News via Boston Herald:
L’AQUILA, Italy — President Barack Obama is ending three days of often-wonkish policy discussions with fellow world leaders to embark on two of the most photogenic and emotional events of his young presidency: meeting the pope at the Vatican and becoming the first black American president to visit a mostly black African country.
He was throwing in a televised news conference from Italy for good measure.
“Good measure” must be some new journo slang for “shameless adoration-sopping” I’m not familiar with. Anyway, the Obamist Press account also includes this gem:
Next comes the audience with the pope, whose generally conservative views will not entirely mesh with Obama’s. They are likely to discuss world poverty, the Middle East and other topics, aides say, but the visit will be largely personal and spiritual.
How about abortion and DOMA? Come on … grudge match!
“There are issues on which they’ll agree, issues on which they’ll disagree and issues on which they’ll agree to continue to work on going forward,” White House national security adviser Denis McDonough told reporters Thursday.
“Given the influence of the Catholic Church globally,” he said, and “the influence of the Catholic Church and church social teaching on the president himself, he recognizes that this is much more than your typical state visit.”
Obama is a Protestant seeking a new church in Washington.
Still? He’s been there for nearly six months. The personal, spiritual bit could be problematic. Presumeably, given the theological divide, they’ll keep it general. Ben XVI is no fan of liberation theology and heads a church that places a high premium on loyalty, but no doubt will have the good taste not to bring up the bigot pastor Obama had to throw under the bus. But the pope’s had his own PR problems with his embrace of weird bigot clergy, so that might offer some common ground.
As for Africa, I’m sure Kenya and the extensive Obama clan will feel slighted. But that place is a political/ethnic trainwreck and God knows what kind of Billy Carters would come out of the woodwork. O’s off to a slightly quieter end of the continent:
He will become the third straight U.S. president to visit Ghana, a relatively stable democracy in a continent wracked by poverty and heavy-handed governments. But he is the first such president of African descent.
Obama chose Ghana, Gavin said, “because it’s such an admirable example of strong, democratic governance, vibrant civil society.” There’s much to admire, she said, and to hold up as “a counter to what one often hears about Africa.”
Either that or its another gutless feel-good move. Sounds like of safe, despite the “poverty and heavy-handed government” parts and the history of ethnic conflict. I guess Africa’s heavy AIDS zone is out. That would just call more attention to what a great job George Bush did in foreign policy. Blood diamonds and al-Qaeda, anyone? Ghana’s pretty safe turf on those counts. South Africa, Zimbabwe, I dunno, that socialist liberationist thing may be too awkward an association. A little messy in execution. This feel-good tour is obviously designed to showcase what a hail-fellow-well-met Obama is, but it does underscore some of the problems he faces being a Messiah without vision. Or much interest in the dirty work of world-saving.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:14 am on Friday, July 10, 2009
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