United in Stupidity

JW,

A student of mine whose obsession with Taylor Swift is such that she refers only to "Taylor" recently provided an illustration that Barack Obama and his acolytes in Washington and New York might find useful: "I would never hound Taylor for an autograph," the student wrote of her trip backstage at one of Swift's concerts. "All I want is to talk to her and get a picture."

Happily, lessons in self-awareness are never more timely than on the occasion of a presidential address to the United Nations General Assembly. As expected, President Obama's first such remarks, delivered this morning, were filled with the kind of anti-George Bush rhetoric liberals sometimes use to disguise their lack of intelligent proposals, and bursting at other times with calls for peace so hopeful they make one wonder if Obama has ever read a newspaper.

Consider, for example, the president's comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

"As we pursue [a two-state solution], we will also pursue peace between Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Syria, and a broader peace between Israel and its many neighbors. In pursuit of that goal, we will develop regional initiatives with multilateral participation, alongside bilateral negotiations."

Nonsense. Offensive nonsense to anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of history. And even though Obama has to say such things, one wonders (particularly after his World Messiah Tour) if he knows enough to see through them. If he's aware of the limits of his ability to persuade.

If he isn't, perhaps he should have stayed for Muammar Qaddafi's speech, which suggested, among other things, that swine flu was created as a military weapon, that Israel was responsible for the JFK assassination, and that Israel and Palestine should be combined into a single state, Israteen. Like Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Qaddafi's a perfect example of the problem with bilateralism. The guy on the lateral side of the table is usually a dick.

Here's my question as I conclude. In a world of nonalcoholic beer and I-Pods that shoot video, is the United Nations still the dumbest idea ever conceived?

-GM

GM,

You really shouldn't get so worked up about the World Messiah Tour. It's a simple game of positioning, a concept that any marketing specialist is familiar with. And our president--or at least his handlers--truly excels in it.

General Perception: George W. Bush = Bad

General Conclusion: Not Bush = Better Than Bad

Wise Position: Not Bush

Half of Obama's campaign theme was "change," and you know exactly why it worked. It was so effective, in fact, that John McCain tried to steal it just weeks before the election. It's a simple message for a simple audience--even worldwide. "You don't like George Bush? I'm not him. How do you like me?" Of course, as thinkers, you and I realize that the realm of "not George Bush" could be anything from FDR to Nero. It could work out, but it doesn't have to.

Let's face it. Even conservatives have to admit that our relationships with some countries, perhaps Russia in this case, may improve immediately if we just send somebody over there besides Bush.Worthless as an organization or not, the United Nations would like to see a fresh American face as well, and Obama's will do. The UN as an idea may be bad, but it's even worse in practice. Why? Perhaps because, as much as liberals want to accuse this country of being overly religious and backwards, the rest of the world has us beaten in both categories.

-JW