http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/01/the-world-burns-america-fiddles.php Posted on January 24, 2015 by John Hinderaker in Barack Obama, Obama Foreign Policy
The World Burns, America Fiddles
It would be hard to overstate how poorly things are going for the United States around the world. Iran moves steadily toward acquiring nuclear weapons, with the apparent approval of the Obama administration. Iraq, once hailed as one of the Obama administration’s greatest successes by Joe Biden, is now largely occupied by ISIS. The carnage in Syria continues. The government of Yemen, a key ally in the war against Islamic terror, has fallen. In Nigeria, Boko Haram slaughters thousands and now controls much of Africa’s richest country.
And Russia continues to chip away at Ukraine. Let’s pause on this one for a moment. Having absorbed Crimea, Russia is now concentrating its fire on the eastern half of Ukraine, perhaps with a plan to secure Crimea via a land bridge to Russia. There is no longer any pretense about the fact that Russian soldiers have invaded Ukraine and are fighting alongside separatist rebels. The New York Times reports that the war in Ukraine is “exploding.” The Kiev Post profiles Ukrainian soldiers struggling to hold onto the strategically important city of Debaltseve. Stratfor issues a “red alert” and speculates about Russia’s strategic intentions.
If any of this is of concern to the Obama administration, it is not evident. Obama, apparently intent on building socialism in one country–haven’t we heard that somewhere before?–views everything that happens elsewhere with seeming indifference, when he is not actively working to undermine American interests, as in Iran. While he almost never submits to questions from actual journalists (even friendly ones, which they pretty much all are), he did take time to give interviews to four YouTube celebrities. This montage depicts the result; you could never make this up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ithQGUgDp8k&x-yt-cl=84503534&x-yt-ts=1421914688#t=13To be fair, Obama’s fecklessness is matched by many Americans. With crises erupting around the world, what is the number one news story in the U.S.? Deflate-gate, of course. Michael Ramirez comments; click to enlarge:
It is times like this when a country needs leadership, and, whatever else you might think about him, Barack Obama has never been accused of being a leader.
