Obama and the World

Remember when electing Barrack Obama as President would restore America to it's natural place as a world leader? we did our part. Now, someone needs to remind the rest of the world to do theirs. Obama seems to be isolating us more than ever.

Prior to the G20 conference, President Obama sent the members a letter urging them to do more stimulus spending and leave deficit-cutting until later. They ignored him and pledged to cut their deficits in half in the next couple of years. Trying to save face, Obama remembered that he had projected a deficit reduction so he announced that they had an agreement, even if it was the opposite of the agreement he wanted.

Last week's foreign relations triumph was the official resetting of relations with Russia. In order to reach that point, the Obama Administration turned on allies like Poland and Turkey and gave up completely on human rights abuses. A few days later the FBI arrested ten Americans for spying on behalf of the Russians.

Our standing in the world is diminishing even as we watch. George W. Bush was able to put together coalitions with dozens of members to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. Does anyone think that Obama could put together a similar coalition?

One of President Bush's foreign accomplishments was increased ties with India. Most of Tony Blair's government personally disliked Bush but relations with Britain remained close during the Bush years. France changed governments and became a US supporter (at least for them).

Obama has pushed India and Britain away. He has been lectured on economics and foreign relations by the French.

Israel, closely supported by the Bush Administration, has almost been cut loose.

I've been complaining for years that the Progressives think that they are the smartest people who ever lived. This tendency is showing in foreign relations. Obama has abandoned successful policies, sure that he knows better. All of Europe has told him that defects matter and that stimulus packages don't work but he does not believe them.

A frequent charge about Bush was that he was incurious and arrogant. If that described Bush then how do we describe Obama?