Kathianne
04-05-2016, 08:35 AM
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/04/05/obamas_hubris_is_on_the_loose_130188.html
Obama's Hubris Is on the Loose By Richard Cohen (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/richard_cohen/)
April 05, 2016
Donald Trump, sure to be a mystery to future historians, is heading for his preordained crackup, tripping over a tongue bigger even than his hands. To some, his performance has been appalling, not to mention frightening. To others, though, it has been downright fortunate. Among other things, Trump has averted our eyes from Barack Obama.
It was during the recent Trump circus that The Atlantic magazine published a comprehensive and remarkable series of interviews with the president conducted by Jeffrey Goldberg. The article was titled "The Obama Doctrine," and such it was. The doctrine, as we all know, comes down -- in its bowdlerized version -- to not doing "stupid stuff." Trouble is, the doctrine itself falls into that category.
This was an article to challenge the capacity of my highlighter. Revealed is the not-very-cozy relationship between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who proposed that Syria would be more amenable to negotiations if the U.S. sent some missiles its way -- and did not acknowledge where they came from. Obama reportedly got so vexed by this suggestion that he forbade anyone but the secretary of defense from proposing military plans. In other words, Kerry, shut up!
It's a rule that Obama himself should have followed. He speaks the unspeakable, conceding that eastern Ukraine, Moldova and Crimea are Russia's for the taking. "Now, if there is somebody in this town that would claim that we would consider going to war with Russia over Crimea and eastern Ukraine, they should speak up and be very clear about it," he told Goldberg.
Ambiguity is not Obama's forte. Rather than keeping Putin guessing -- and maybe restrained -- he signals the Russian president not to worry. Putin already has Crimea. He's got eastern Ukraine. Will Moldova be next? Just a matter of time, it seems to me.
...
Obama's Hubris Is on the Loose By Richard Cohen (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/richard_cohen/)
April 05, 2016
Donald Trump, sure to be a mystery to future historians, is heading for his preordained crackup, tripping over a tongue bigger even than his hands. To some, his performance has been appalling, not to mention frightening. To others, though, it has been downright fortunate. Among other things, Trump has averted our eyes from Barack Obama.
It was during the recent Trump circus that The Atlantic magazine published a comprehensive and remarkable series of interviews with the president conducted by Jeffrey Goldberg. The article was titled "The Obama Doctrine," and such it was. The doctrine, as we all know, comes down -- in its bowdlerized version -- to not doing "stupid stuff." Trouble is, the doctrine itself falls into that category.
This was an article to challenge the capacity of my highlighter. Revealed is the not-very-cozy relationship between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who proposed that Syria would be more amenable to negotiations if the U.S. sent some missiles its way -- and did not acknowledge where they came from. Obama reportedly got so vexed by this suggestion that he forbade anyone but the secretary of defense from proposing military plans. In other words, Kerry, shut up!
It's a rule that Obama himself should have followed. He speaks the unspeakable, conceding that eastern Ukraine, Moldova and Crimea are Russia's for the taking. "Now, if there is somebody in this town that would claim that we would consider going to war with Russia over Crimea and eastern Ukraine, they should speak up and be very clear about it," he told Goldberg.
Ambiguity is not Obama's forte. Rather than keeping Putin guessing -- and maybe restrained -- he signals the Russian president not to worry. Putin already has Crimea. He's got eastern Ukraine. Will Moldova be next? Just a matter of time, it seems to me.
...