August 26, 2008

Doesn't Anybody Have Obama's Cell?

Hatched by Dafydd

According to Real Clear Politics, Team Obama just released a press statement that begins thus:

I condemn Russia's decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states and call upon all countries of the world not to accord any legitimacy to this action. The United States should call for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to condemn Russia's decision in coordination with our European allies. The U.S. should lead within the UN and other international forums to cast a clear and unrelenting light on the decision, and to further isolate Russia internationally because of its actions.

I am astonished that Barack H. Obama still, even today, doesn't know that Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council... and as such has veto authority over any "condemnation" the United States might push in the UNSC. Evidently, even after his last UN-Russia gaffe, nobody on his campaign staff picked up the phone and called the principal to enlighten him.

Alternatively, perhaps the One is so enlightened anyway that such illuminating calls from the rabble are discouraged.

I also find it illuminating that even now, the only concrete action Obama suggests to put some teeth into his condemnation is to call an international forum and wag our finger at Vladimir Putin. Perhaps the One We Have Been Waiting For has been spending too much time with the One Who Did Not Have Sex With That Woman.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, August 26, 2008, at the time of 1:40 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Steven Den Beste

Leftists place a great deal of faith in the concept of peer pressure on the international level. I think they believe that if sufficient international condemnation falls on some particular international wrong-doer, that wrong-doer will feel ashamed and stop doing wrong.

Of course, the track record for this concept is decidedly poor, but since when has pragmatic failure ever convinced leftists of anything?

The above hissed in response by: Steven Den Beste [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 26, 2008 2:25 PM

The following hissed in response by: LarryD

I think it's just a matter of posturing. I call for a totally-useless-but-noble-sounding-gesture, therefore I Am A Good Person(tm).

Standard behavior for a narcissist.

The above hissed in response by: LarryD [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 26, 2008 2:43 PM

The following hissed in response by: Steven Den Beste

It's true that among leftists intentions are judged to be more important than results. Doing a good thing is more important than doing an effective thing, even if the good thing is useless.

The above hissed in response by: Steven Den Beste [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 26, 2008 3:08 PM

The following hissed in response by: Mr. Michael

Of all the different options available to the United States in response to Russia's naked aggression in Georgia, Barak Obama thinks that a UN resolution will FORCE Russia to change it's behavior.

Not only does this show how toothless an Obama administration would be... it might just show how he would react to World Pressure himself. Imagine Obama as President. I know, I know... but do this for just a moment. A scheduled meeting of, oh, the UN Council on Fresh Water Distribution is dominated by a strong discussion about how the United States uses too much water per capita. A stinging statement of rebuke is issued calling for America to send it's water to Nations that need it, and to stop hogging all the water.

It's a silly exercise, yeah, but it's the kind of thing that happens all the time in these UN subcommittees. My point is, will Obama react to these 'clear and unrelenting' calls for change? He seems to give an awful lot of weight to the idea of World Peer Pressure. I wonder at what point he would decide that the interests of the US would be more important than the desires of the massed Dictatorships that are represented so heavily in the UN.

We never hear about this kind of thing... we're always focusing on what kind of pressure the US would put forth under his leadership, but I'm seriously worried that he, as President, would cave to International Pressure on any and all subjects. Is there any evidence to the contrary?

The above hissed in response by: Mr. Michael [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 26, 2008 7:17 PM

The following hissed in response by: hunter

This is payback for how the US, under Clinton, treated Russia during the Kosovo crisis, as well as how the US led later by Bush accommodated Kosovars break away in the last year or two.
If we are lucky, we can stop this without WWIII.
Obama's naive and shallow posing as a foreign policy person is not needed.

The above hissed in response by: hunter [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 26, 2008 7:26 PM

The following hissed in response by: nk

Security Council/General Council, Goldberg/Iceberg, what's the difference?

The above hissed in response by: nk [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 26, 2008 8:57 PM

The following hissed in response by: nk

Let's just be thankful that the moron totally blew his chance to outflank McCain with this statement: "I call upon President Bush to issue an executive order for a complete economic boycott of Russia. We get nothing from them and they get nothing from us. Not that Archer Daniels Midland and Tyson Foods will alow him to do it." It would have also sent his base into another BDS Obamargasm.

The above hissed in response by: nk [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 26, 2008 9:07 PM

The following hissed in response by: Fritz

It strikes me that Old White Joe isn't having the desired effect upon the One. Biden was supposed to help Obama past his lack of foreign policy experience and sure blew this chance. If I just wanted to be snarky I could say that perhaps the reason Biden didn't better advise Obama is because Neil Kinnock didn't say anything Biden could steal.

The above hissed in response by: Fritz [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 27, 2008 1:53 AM

The following hissed in response by: GW

Obama and, indeed, the entire far left seem to pretend that the world is a far less dangerous place than it actually is. From there perspective, having to take real action against the Russians - or the Iranians or the Cubans or the Syrians or the North Koreans, etc., etc. - would needlessly complicate the situation and detract from their major concerns on the domestic and international front. Thus a purely symbolic and futile gesture is what I would expect from Obama - and Biden, for that matter. I just wasted a few hours of my life taking a look at Biden's record and came away from the exercise with the firm conviction that he is a doctranaire progressive whose judgment and analytical skills are fatally flawed.

The above hissed in response by: GW [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 27, 2008 2:13 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

GW:

I just wasted a few hours of my life taking a look at Biden's record and came away from the exercise with the firm conviction that he is a doctranaire progressive whose judgment and analytical skills are fatally flawed.

I did the same a couple of days ago; I was thinking of blogging about him. But then I realized that the most astonishing characteristic of Joe Biden's career is so banal, that a blogpost would be overkill.

I refer to the fact that the man has done nothing in his life but be an elected official. In fact, almost nothing but be a senator.

He graduates from law school, passes the bar, gets his license to practice law... and that very same year, he is elected to his city council. Then he chucks that two years later when he's elected to the United States Senate -- three whole years after finishing school and being admitted to the bar.

Obama's career path is similar (no wonder they get on so well!) Neither has done anything in his life other than be an elected politician: Neither has ever had to make an executive decision, be held accountable for anything, or make a payroll (they get money from the Senate for staff).

Neither has anything coming from Social Security, nor has had to pay into any such system: As senators (federal or state), I believe they have a private pension plan that pays huge dividends without requiring the recipient to pay anything in, or not enough to notice.

Since leaving college, neither man has ever had to wait in the rain for a bus, drive his own car, worry about which side of the street he can park on, or pump his own gas.

Both families have always been able to jet off to Hawaii or Tahiti or the French Riviera whenever life gets dull... at least since leaving university. Call it a congressional fact-finding mission, and the taxpayers pick up the tab.

Neither man has ever had to take an order from his boss or had to deal with a superior who is a jerk. In fact, being a senator (either kind) means never having a superior at all... not even the majority leader.

Neither Obama nor Biden has ever had office hours, other than whatever he chooses to set for himself. The families have never had to pad a holiday with a few vacation days to make a pseudo-vacation, because they didn't have enough days left for a real one. And Michelle Obama notwithstanding, I don't believe either family has ever had to worry about making the next rent or mortgage payment.

These are all experiences that are shared among 99% of Americans, but are incomprensible to the Obamas and the Bidens.

(McCain fits this category now; but he had a whole previous life in which he did have to worry about all this. Those who say that McCain grew up "privileged" because he father was a naval officer don't know squat about how the military lives.)

I think that worries me more than any other aspect of either man's life: The completely alien nature of their upbringing vis-à-vis the rest of America. Each has more in common with Leona Helmsley than with me.

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 27, 2008 2:59 AM

The following hissed in response by: MikeR

Dafydd, I've heard this running around, but I'm not sure it's right. According to Wikipedia, the five permanent members have a veto on "substantive" resolutions. They can't block discussions. So there could be some kind of non-binding condemnation, which is probably all Obama would want anyhow!

The above hissed in response by: MikeR [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 27, 2008 7:54 AM

The following hissed in response by: Davod

"They can't block discussions. So there could be some kind of non-binding condemnation, which is probably all Obama would want anyhow!"

Discussions are exactly the problem. Tak, talk, talk and the Russians do what they want. Peace treaty/agreement the Russians stay put.

The above hissed in response by: Davod [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 27, 2008 2:58 PM

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