Obama displayed calm reasonableness with the paranoid religious fanatics at the United Nations yesterday, pretty much as he has tried to deal with those in the U.S. Congress. It’s not clear that it will work in either place.
His sensible but plodding address would be reassuring if he were a CEO addressing shareholders of a company not threatened by a hostile takeover. But he doesn’t convince as an ass-kicker, and that ‘Make no mistake’ trope falls increasingly flat.
Still, since the assembled diplomats have a broader vision of the world than the parochial solons gathered in Washington, when Obama puts our own willingness to reduce nuclear weapons on the table, he gets some credit from his audience. Saying the same thing to Congress would merely stir worries about the next Northrup Grumman contract back in the home district.
No junior backbencher from North Korea or Swaziland shouted “You lie!” during Obama’s UN appearance, so I suppose they were willing to give the new president a chance with his promises to treat them as partners rather than unruly children.
Not that they all merit the distinction. The infantile Hugo-Chávez moment was not lacking, this time performed by Libya’s Muammar Gaddafy, surely one of the worst human beings on the planet, despite his recent rehabilitation by the oil-hungry opportunists in London and Washington.
Gaddafy seemed to be auditioning for a spot on Jerry Springer—someone should have shouted ‘You lie!’ at him to see if he’d rush into the amphitheatre waving his walking stick.
It’s ironic that just as a sane person like Obama takes over, the wacko brigade from Ahmadinejad to tea-bagger Joe Wilson seems more energized than ever. Perhaps it’s no accident.
The recent anti-Semitic blast from Iran’s creepy president suggests weakness requiring him to toss more and more red meat (along with the handouts) to his legions of dazed sloganeers. Although the Iranian regime may succeed in crushing the opposition, it’s clearly undermined itself by having to steal an election, and its long-term prospects cannot be bright.
The Republicans did much better when they tried that here at home, given the lack of any real domestic opposition. They had quite a run, but then imploded too, at least for now.
It’s still too early to know if Obama’s patient, no-drama approach has a place in this world given the gallery of crazies arrayed against him.
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