Just what was it about President Obama
and his speech in Berlin that so bothered George F. Will,
reactionary wordsmith of the Right? Was it the President's demeanor?
Was it the mention of arms control? The President said that we
cannot ignore the intolerance and extremism that provides the fuel
for terrorism. George's sneer was that terrorists create intolerance
and extremism - basically Obama is too dumb to understand this
crucial distinction. The next insulting sneer was that Obama was
ignorant of Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs. As if he
could be. Remember when the Right insisted that a President
shouldn't be criticised while on foreign soil? But that during the
tenure of the Toxic Texan, not the unprincipled usurper, elected
twice now. Which does remind me, has anyone heard of Mitt Romney or
Paul Ryan lately?
This president seems to get under
George's white, white skin. I looked at his article again and
decided that the old hot buttons of the Cold War, so beloved by the
Right, no longer produce the same frisson of angst and terror. The
President mentioned arms control - that means cuts in the military,
spelling financial hardship for arms makers and investors. The
President is looking at the reasons why terrorists flourish in some
venues across the globe. Again, for George, apostasy! He thinks
that Americans have a God-given right to kill terrorists and anyone ,
really, who disagrees with our unquestionably generous policies. And
then Obama talked about the North Korean and Iranian nuclear
programs. Yes, they are dangerous, but the central question is why
these two countries, certainly not very properous or advanced, should
devote so much of their Gross National Product to the production of
nuclear bombs. Might these projects have something to do with fear?
In the past has the United States threatened either or both
countries? Does anyone remember Mohammad Mossadegh or the Korean
War? Yes, George wants a no-nonsense, heavily armed America that
brooks no opposition to its sway, you know, just like Ronald Reagan.
Talking with opponents, considering long term solutions to problems,
looking unblinkingly at the mistakes we've made - not for George.
I think that these considerations
sparked George's tantrum. He was the one who hit the wall in Berlin,
not President Obama.
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