Copenhagen should be roped off as a crime scene. Its where the Obama presidency was killed, or should be say, committed suicide.
COPENHAGEN — A visibly angry Barack Obama threw down the gauntlet at China and other developing nations Friday, declaring that the time has come "not to talk but to act" on climate change.
I don't know what the Chinese translation for "what an asshole..." is, but no doubt that's what the Chinese delegation was saying.
Its impossible to believe that this was actually a scripted speech, vetted by the State Department and other experts in the administration. The state is so arrogant, so incredibly naive, that one finds oneself looking futilely for some deeper, hidden foreign policy agenda. No such luck, the man is just an ass.
The aphorism that its better to be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt, comes to mind. Obama hasn't been taken seriously in the international community since he took office, and its been getting steadily worse. Most ominously, the kind of mistakes Obama is making would be, under normal circumstances, almost impossible for a President to make. He has literally hundreds of experienced diplomats at his beck and call to instruct him on proper decorum, to advise him on the sensitivities around various diplomatic issues, and to do the background work required to insure that his every meeting with foreign dignitaries goes off without a hitch. I can think of only one reason they are happening--Obama thinks he knows better and has told these people to take a hike--he'll just wing it.
Democrats made much of the perception that the U.S. was hated because Bush was President, but it probably fair to say that it was distaste for American policy, perhaps even anger. With Barack Obama we have to endure international contempt!
With the failure of his domestic agenda and the absence of leadership on the international front, Obama has effectively emasculated himself. A lame duck after less than one year in office. Jimmy Carter must be ecstatic at not being the worst President of the last century.
Just for giggles, let's consider what might happen over the next three years.
Bill Clinton, when faced with this kind of challenge, simply switched gears and got in front of the conservative parade, taking credit for welfare reform and anything else he could. He was subsequently reelected by a comfortable majority as a reward for not scaring anybody. Clinton could switch gears because he'd been through the experience before--ignominiously booted from the governorship of Arkansas for being too radical. He reassessed, came back for another try and governed as a successful moderate for two terms. Nothing in Barack Obama's history has every prepared him to doubt himself, to consider the possibility that his opinions had nothing short of divine approval.
Democrats don't tell black men that they're wrong.
Understanding that, its reasonable to expect that Obama is just going to get more petulant, more paranoid and increasingly combative. His already terrible approval ratings may well decline to Mariana Trench depths and Democrats will be faced with a very tough decision.
A Democrat will have to tell a black man that he's wrong.
I think it a distinct possibility that Democrat officials will ask Obama not to run for a second term.
