A consistent reader of conservative blogs will be familiar with the refrain that President Obama has spent most of his time in foreign policy apologizing for American imperialism, capitalism and various other bad behaviours. ( I spell this in the British style purposely in the same way that Obama transforms into a global citizen when he hits the road).
While the President, acting in our name, feels obligated to apologize and genuflect in the presence of the most un-democratic of potentates, there is no reason why the Presdient can’t profess support for the ideas that even he must believe make America great – standing up for human rights, liberty, democracy, etc. Apparently the President is incapable of even this. The NY Times editors have this to say.
President Obama was elected in part because he promised a more cooperative and pragmatic leadership in world affairs. We support that. The measure of the success (or failure) of his approach won’t be known for months, and we hope it bears fruit. But the American president must always be willing to stand up to Beijing in defense of core American interests and values.
Does the President “hate America” as some conservative blogs attest? Certianly not America the place, in my opinion. But the idea of America that many of us have as the last, great hope on Earth - an independent beacon of freedom and defender of democracy - the very least that can be said is that he doesn’t embrace it with the passion of a true believer.
UPDATE: In his column on November 23, Roger Cohen quotes a Latvian Defense Ministry official as saying, “Watching Obama, I worry that democracy is going out of fashion.” That’s just sad.
