From ABC News...
SEOUL, South Korea - At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have "more flexibility" to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him "space."
The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room for remarks by the two leaders.
The exchange:
President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space.
President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…
President Obama: This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.
President Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.
Translation: I would love to roll over and expose my soft underbelly, but I have to keep up this facade for a couple of months to fool the gullible sheeple.... but if you'll play along and give me a little time I think you'll be more than happy with the transformation post-election.
This is what worries me more than anything about the upcoming election. There's been lots of dissatisfaction expressed by those on "my side" towards the current crop of Republican Candidates. Some folks, many of whom I respect a great deal, have even gone so far as to express the opinion that these "big government Republicans" would be just as bad if not worse than President Obama 2.0.
While I myself am less than enthusiastic about our choices this time around, I don't buy the "they are all the same" argument one little bit. As bad as the first term of the current President has been, I shudder to think of facing a second term under such a liberal ideologue unfettered by concerns of re-election.
Even if Conservatives controlled the Congress - 4 more years of such a divisive, race baiting, true-believer in Liberal Dogma could damage this country past the point of no return.
This is a War - not a Battle. We didn't get into this situation over night. We have fed and grown our Leviathan steadily over the past 200+ years. It pervades not only our government, but also every layer of our society including the Republican Party. The idea that we can sweep that away and emerge victorious by electing a single "perfect" candidate in one election is a naive Conservative Utopian dream. In my opinion its just as dangerous a vision of Utopia as the Liberal version.
The battle for the United States will never be over. There is no finish line. Some days we will loose a fight, some days we hold our ground, and some days we will suceed in beating back the Leviathan and make genuine progress. But we never get to do an end zone dance and spike the ball. As much as I dislike politics, and I do seriously hate it, I've come to realize that I have to remain engaged and involved. I have to keep up the fight - whether that fight pitches me against a Liberal Democrat or a "Conservative" Republican. The nation's future depends upon it.
To totally mix my metaphors.... I used to play chess quite a bit. In College I played virtually every day. Got pretty good at it. It can be an aggrevating game when things aren't going the way you would like them to. More than once, during game play, I saw someone get so pissed off that they flipped the board over, scattered all the chess pieces, and stomped away from the match.
In a way, I can see how that would be viscerally satisfying in the short term. However, not one of those people every won a game with that strategy.
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2 comments:
I'm not an Obama fan - but from an outsider I dislike his foreign policies and find them rash and missing the point. Of course, I would think that since I am part of the foreigners ;)
I liked your last metaphor... so true.
I appreciate what you said because on many points you make a lot of sense. I wish someone would tell the truth to the Republican candidates like the one guy tried to tell Santorum. I want Republicans to reign in some of their nuts more than they do. I also like to think that Obama is playing a little rope-a-dope with the Russians. Bush was caught kissing and holding hands with the Saudi King. We can go back and forth all day. I think that you need another 4 years of Obama to stabalize the massive changes your country desperately needs. You know that whenever one side goes too far the political landscape changes and the other side gets the power for awhile. I just wish with all their talk and bluster that the Right would be any different from the Left. They all serve the same Corporate masters who put on this circus every four years to keep the rabble distracted. I say a pox on both their houses.
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