The President's Apology Tour
Dorothy Rabinowitz, in the WSJ, dissects Obama's trip to Europe: yet another outing in character as a character he seems to relish playing -- the un-Bush. Now, I was no George Bush fan, but like Rabinowitz, I'm uncomfortable with the kowtow tour I see from Obama -- complete with bowing and scraping to leaders of fundamentalist nations like Saudi Arabia (on the other hand, perhaps he wanted to kiss the guy and hold his hand like George Bush did, but it was only the first date?) and getting all cuddly with the anti-American Chavez. It's shades of an attitude I don't like seeing from the American president -- like the little snit war with Rush Limbaugh. Because other leaders and other countries like to see American seeming humbled doesn't mean it's good P.R. for us. Rabinowitz writes:
He had gone to Europe not as the voice of his nation, but as a missionary with a message of atonement for its errors. Which were, as he perceived them -- arrogance, dismissiveness, Guantanamo, deficiencies in its attitudes toward the Muslim world, and the presidency of Harry Truman and his decision to drop the atomic bomb, which ended World War II.No sitting American president had ever delivered indictments of this kind while abroad, or for that matter at home, or been so ostentatiously modest about the character and accomplishment of the nation he led. He was mediator, an agent of change, a judge, apportioning blame -- and he was above the battle.
None of this display during Mr. Obama's recent travels could have come as a surprise to legions of his supporters, nor would many of them be daunted by their new president's preoccupation with our moral failures. Five decades of teaching in colleges and universities across the land, portraying the U.S. as a power mainly responsible for injustice and evil, whose military might was ever a danger to the world -- a nation built on the fruits of greed, rapacity and racism -- have had their effect. The products of this education find nothing strange in a president quick to focus on the theme of American moral failure. He may not share many of their views, but there is, nonetheless, much that they find familiar about him.
The same can't be said for the large numbers of Americans who caught up with the details of the president's apology tour. Presidents have been transformed by office, and Mr. Obama may yet be one of them. But on the evidence so far, he has, as few presidents before him, much to transform. Or, at least, to understand.
Since that bridge too far to Europe, ordinary Americans, including some who voted for Mr. Obama, have shown evidence of a quiet but durable resentment over the list of grievances against the United States that the president brought to the world's attention while overseas. There are certain things that can't be taken back. There are images that are hard to forget. Anger of this kind has an enduring power that could, in the end, haunt this presidency.
Which were, as he perceived them -- arrogance, dismissiveness, Guantanamo, deficiencies in its attitudes toward the Muslim world
This sounds an awful lot like projection of her own shit and that of the WSJ's onto Obama. She's not defending America. She's defending her own abysmal record with regard to Iraq, to Guantanamo, to the outing of Valerie Plame. She's defending the role of the incredibly lousy journalist pundits who believe their job is to comfort the comforted and defend the Washington Elite as our proper kings.
jerry at April 25, 2009 8:24 AM
What seems like humility is actually boundless arrogance on Obama's part. All previous Presidents were fools & criminals, but He, the Obamessiah, will atone for their sins & make everything right. Offhand, I can't think of a single case in all of history when any country ever profited from apologizing for itself to it's enemies, so I don't think this will end well.
Martin at April 25, 2009 9:32 AM
Like Martin, I don't think this is going to end well for America. I know that the polls are still in Obama's favour but I have to wonder if the majority of Americans share the extremely Radical Left views that I suspect are at the core of his being.
Am I being a conspiracy theorist or a realist?!
Robert W. (Vancouver, BC) at April 25, 2009 10:33 AM
Very timely piece from Mark Steyn today tied in directly with what Amy wrote. A snippet:
At the time of Gordon Brown’s visit to Washington, London took umbrage at an Obama official’s off-the-record sneer to a Fleet Street reporter that “there’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.” Andy McCarthy of National Review made the sharp observation that, never mind the British, this was how the administration felt about their own country, too: America is just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. In Europe, the president was asked if he believed in “American exceptionalism,” and replied: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”
Gee, thanks. A simple “no” would have sufficed. The president of the United States is telling us that American exceptionalism is no more than national chauvinism, a bit of flag-waving, of no more import than the Slovenes supporting the Slovene soccer team and the Papuans the Papuan soccer team. This means something.
Robert W. (Vancouver, BC) at April 25, 2009 10:40 AM
Civil Rights Erosion
Off topic but more red flagging of Obama's Administration. I don't believe he is moving to dismantle "Bushhitler's Police State".
As for bowing to a monarch, doesn't that go against over 200 years of American tradition regarding Presidents and monarchs? A kiss and a hand held is more following the culture, but bowing is subservient.
Ariel at April 25, 2009 12:13 PM
I guess after attending 20 years of God Damn America sermons no one should be surprised that Obama has a slightly different view of America's "greatness".
jim sisco at April 25, 2009 1:02 PM
> deficiencies in its attitudes
> toward the Muslim
Has any nation shed more blood defending Muslims in the last 20 years than the United States of America?
Please list our contenders:
1. ______________
2. ______________
3. ______________
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at April 25, 2009 4:49 PM
"The president of the United States is telling us that American exceptionalism is no more than national chauvinism"
Yet it's consistent with the fact that Obama's administration is dragging us into Eastern Bloc socialism, rendering us unexceptional.
Pirate Jo at April 25, 2009 5:07 PM
There is much discussion about Obama running things, as if he is alone at the top directing the government. He couldn't do these things or hatch his plans without the support of the Democratic Congress and Senate. In fact, much of "Obama's" legislation is drafted by his party in Congress. That is why there were 8,000 earmarks in the recent appropriations bill.
Almost all Democrats in Congress agree with Obama, or are willing to go along to share the spoils. Remember that Obama is getting his way only because he is supported by a his party in Congress. Congress is up for election in 18 months. Share the blame, especially when inflation, taxes, and unemployment appear in earnest.
A Tested Stimulus Plan
The housing crisis is the result of our last stimulus plan. How do we like it?
Andrew_M_Garland at April 25, 2009 7:19 PM
With respect to these arguments, Larison pretty much nails it, I think:
http://www.theweek.com/article/index/95755/Obama_is_no_apologist
Cheezburg at April 25, 2009 7:46 PM
Barry sure the hell doesn’t speak for me. What is with this guy any way? He wants everyone to "like" him - so he plays kissy face with ruthless dictators and apologizes for America's mistakes? That makes sense! (heh?)
News flash, all countries make mistakes and have their warts, but we also just so happen to be one of the most generous countries in the world. A point which was completely dismissed by our ACOA in Chief. Did he think he would inspire other nations to suddenly snap too their senses and issue similar apologetic proclamations in response to his embarrassing cow tows? And on what planet does he think THIS will work?
His European tour did nothing but emphasize his unresolved abandonment and betrayal issues from childhood. He requires an embarrassingly high level of adulation and praise to go about his day as Commander and Chief, and even with all this.. he still can't seem to pull himself together enough to act Presidential .
His outright genuflection of the wahabi sheikh was flat out creepy. Problem with Barry, is he believes his own stories.
The MSM tries to make him look like he is a tough guy. Good GRIEF!. He's getting fat in the jowl which you get from compulsive eating during periods of high anxiety. He's caving to his addictive personality and lack of emotional sobriety. Think of his confusion: oedipal complex for his white Mom (constantly seeking attention from his mother who was emotionally and physically unavailable to him because she was a complete co-dependant to her second husband – I mean, who would rip there kid out of school in the US and go start a new family in a third world country only to send him back by himself to live with her parents in Hawaii four years later…that had to sting)… but then he went and married a strong woman like Michelle. This man doesn’t know whether to shit or go blind. Talk about being trapped in a house of mirrors.
He is gonna crack. I don’t care how smart people keep saying this guy is…he had NO EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE. And please, save me the “community organizer” and “constitutional law professors” bullshit. A community organizer does not an emotionally resilient and effective President make.
Feebie
at April 25, 2009 9:58 PM
Never before have I been so grateful for the "Framer's Intent" pulling from the Declaration of Independence of the right of the people to overthrow their government...seriously folks, the 2010 elections are not too far away and it looks like the democratic party blew its load for voter turnout in '08...
Blackjack at April 26, 2009 12:27 AM
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