A Competence Crisis; Or, SNAFU Diplomacy
Restoring America's 'Image' In The World Appears An Elusive Path For Obama & Co.

Something from the Heart

Imagine, if you will, that it's Valentine's Day: your first Valentine's Day since you started dating a new sweetie. The excitement of this new relationship--so full of hope and promise--drives you to find the perfect, meaningful gift; one that reflects thought and efforts spent understanding who this romantic interest is and where they come from. Giddiness seeps out of your pores as the anticipation of seeing they're face light-up builds and builds. There's a knock at the door...

Perhaps you exchange a warm embrace, say hello, grab your things and head off to dinner. Finally, after appetizers and an artfully prepared entree, the time comes to reach under the table for the gifts you took so much care in finding for the special person seated across from you. Oh, there is joy in their face when they see what you've given to them, and of yourself.  Still giddy, it's your turn to receive a gift. As it turns out, they've gotten you their favorite band's new album--which they are all too eager to rip open and listen to in the car on the way home...

...disappointed? Maybe a little bitter? Feeling like maybe this relationship means a lot more to you than it does to them? How could you not?

So it was that earlier this month when the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, came to visit our new President, Barack Obama, one of them likely walked away from the encounter feeling like a jilted lover--unappreciated and insulted.

UK based reporting on the Heads of States first-date described "extremely rude" treatment paid unto their Prime Minister. The Telegraph cited unanimous British officials as, "[conceding] that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister," to wit, canceling/rescheduling a joint press conference, denial of a customary State Dinner at the White House (or even a club sandwich from the White House kitchen), and unpaid pleasantries upon finally meeting.

According to the Telegraph, "A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama's inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to 'even fake an interest in foreign policy'."

So is it amateur-hour at the Obama White House, or does the administration just not care? Perhaps Obama really was just "too tired" to pay the kind of respect to Mr. Brown that he, and his country deserve; apparently, the whole-sale destruction of a powerful economy is absolutely exhausting, even for a young, vibrant, and 'hopeful' American President. But really, when does "I'm too tired" mean anything other than, "I'm just not that into you anymore..."?

Then there was the gift exchange...

Another UK media outlet, the Daily Mail, outlines in vivid detail the gifts delivered to President Obama by Mr. Brown:

"The Prime Minister gave Mr Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet.

The unique present delighted Mr Obama because oak from the Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880.

Mr Brown also handed over a framed commission for HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert."

WOW!  The framed commission and the first edition Churchill biographies are cool gifts, to be sure... But the thought and meaning behind an ornamental rendition of a piece of history like that--a piece of an "anti-slave ship" given to the first black President--goes beyond words. I cannot conceive of a more touching gesture.

How giddy Mr. Brown must have been in anticipation of what this 'hopeful herald of change' across from him had picked out to demonstrate how much this relationship has been historically and would continue to be... So what did our esteemed President get for the British Prime Minister?

25 DVD's, selected by the American Film Institute on the White House's request. I guess there's no way to say, "Thank you for your support in Iraq, Afghanistan, and all the other ways you've contributed to our national security," like a copy of Star Wars. As one British columnist noted, "We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic."

He couldn't even be bothered to select the titles himself... Maybe I'm too cynical, but I don't see how this kind of (insulting) thoughtlessness is going to "restore" America's image around the world. Let's just hope the President-in-Training doesn't overreach next time and hand to Benjamin Netanyahu a collection of Nazi flat-ware.

Making An Impression, Clinton Style

As President Barack Obama said on the campaign trail, "Don't tell me words don't matter!"

Even our former President, Bill Clinton, knows how important words are. He is, after all, the same man who explained that his denial of an extramarital affair was true, depending on what the definition of "is" is...

...and then there was Hillary.

Having failed to capture the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, Hillary Clinton (wife of a former President and former Senator from New York herself), settled for the high-profile cabinet position of Secretary of State. When he nominated Mrs. Clinton for the job, then President-Elect Obama commented that she "will command respect in every capitol." Clinton assured Americans that she would give the job her all.

Fast forward from early December '08 to early March '09.

The stage was set for what is fast becoming a hallmark of the new administration: political theater. Explaining for the camera crews that team-Obama wishes to "reset" American/Russian relations, Secretary Clinton presented a symbolic token of the Obama administrations commitment to 'hope' and 'change' where diplomacy is concerned to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Inside of a little gold box, Lavrov found a small "reset" button--a lighthearted gesture of friendship.

There was one small problem, as the Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva notes:

The word on the button was meant to say "reset" in Russian.

"We worked hard to get the right Russian word," Clinton told Lavrov. "Do you think we got it?"

"You got it wrong," Lavrov replied - the word actually means "overcharge.''

"We won't let you do that to us," Clinton said, with the two laughing.

HaHa... Ha?

When the State Department of the United States of America can't accurately communicate a single word in the native language of a nation we've been studying, spying on, and otherwise intrinsically linked to in one way or another for over half a century, something has gone terribly awry. There's nothing funny about that kind of incompetence. Is this brand of "hard work" the kind Obama thinks is going to "demand respect in every capitol"?

Kudos, I guess, to Mrs. Clinton for making Lavrov laugh; but, something tells me he was laughing at her as opposed to with her.

If this is Secretary Clinton's "all," we're in ever more trouble than even Glenn Beck fears...

Out of the Abyss of a dismal first fifty-days in office, the Obama administration seems determined to set a land-speed record for achieving the (dis)honor of most embarrassing United States Presidency in history. With a President "too tired" to show our allies even a modicum of respect, and a Secretary of State too incompetent to pin down the meaning of a single word, the future of America's 'image' looks bleak indeed. Such is the folly of electing an inexperienced rhetorician on some vague promise of 'hope' and 'change.' We are getting the 'change' alright, but right now I just 'hope' these people stop giving gifts entirely.

But nevermind all that--just repeat after him: "Yes we can!"


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Daily Mail Article

Telegraph Article

Telegraph Columnist Blog

Clinton's 'reset' button