HAVE WE DONE THE RIGHT THING?
I'm concerned that our collective political heads are once again in a hole in the sand. Reading from Newsweek, op-ed pieces and hearing commentary on TV about President Obama and his administration got me to thinking of a conversation I had with a friend last August. It went something like this: Friend, "...I'm convinced Obama is our man." And my friend was right, not that he was my choice but that he is the one now sitting in the Oval Office. I replied, "I'm sure he's a good man, well educated and certainly intelligent, but--" My friend interupted, "But what?" "I think Senator Obama is naive." I went on to explain that I thought his campaign platform overestimated his ability to calm the masses and bring peace to the world. And that Senator Obama underestimated those that wish to do us harm. The conversation tapered to the point of us agreeing to disagree.
This illustration has nothing to do with the present state of America's economic woes, but more to do with America's safety and security. You don't have to be a think tank member to know that there are a number of calamities that could befall the U.S. that would have a far worse effect than a serious recession and that, fellow Americans, is another strategically placed terrorist attack.
The point of this is are we ready or are we loosing our edge? Are we distracted by the economy, and mezmerized by Obama's Kennedy-like popularity.
The idea of trying to mend our reputation with the rest of the world is to me an insult. The ugly American label may well be deserved by the ugly Americans, but to categorize the majority of America, as Obama did recently in Europe, as arrogant, dismissive and derisive was an insult and an ignorant one at that. That kind of leadership mentality plays well with those that hate us and fuels the fires of governments that want to see the U.S. collapse militarily, economically, socially and religiously. The next step will be a level-the-playing-field philosophy that will be introduced in subtle fashion. The proponenants, I believe our President to be one, will favor equalizing everything--it's only fair, right? Wrong! That's a big wrong and the reason is obvious, the U.S. is the only country I trust to carry the big stick, not Argentina, Iran, Saudia Arabia, China, N. Korea, India etc.
Do you believe this is Obama's ultimate intent--global equalization? Is it a wise strategy or not?