Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Impotence of 'Flexibility'


March 26, 2012, Seoul, Korea, President Obama is caught on an open mic speaking with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev... :  
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"This is my last election.  After my election, I have more flexibility," Obama told Medvedev.
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Obama appeared to be asking Medvedev to relay this point to Vladimir Putin, who recently won election to return to the Russian presidency.
 
"On all these issues, but particularly missile defense ... this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space," Obama said.
 
Medvedev told the president he understood the "message about space. Space for you ..." 

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After Obama noted he'd have more flexibility in the future, Medvedev told him: "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir."

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...

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After the conversation was widely reported, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the comments were "alarming and troubling."
 
U.S.-backed plans for a missile defense shield in Europe have been a sensitive subject in Russia, and one that Putin exploited during his presidential campaign.
 
The White House, though, downplayed the conversation between Obama and Medvedev.

SOURCE:  FOX News


Barack Obama reads the first draft of his new book, "Managing the Decline of Nations"
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While not widely reported in the alphabet-soup of Media outlets back in 2012, I believe that this brief exchange between our President and Dmitri Medvedev speaks volumes about the ability of our President to be 'flexible' and his unique ability to... 'lead from behind'.
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Now, almost four years later, Vladimir Putin acknowledges his mastery of our President's 'flexibility' by driving his Russian forces into Crimea.  
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Oh, don't get me wrong, our President has called Vladimir Putin on the phone, Obama has vigorously issued 'stern warnings' (all of which thus far have been ignored), and we have sent a clear signal that WE are NOT going to participate in the pre-planning meetings for the Sochi G8 meetings.  (Na, na, na, na, boo, boo...) 
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Even more dramatically, we will NOT be sending ANY Chobani yogurt to the G8 in protest of the profound disrespect shown to hard-working US cows who 'gave until it hurt' to provide fresh-squeezed Greek yogurt to US Olympians, only to have it be sent back by those freedom-loving Sochi-ites to...  a warehouse in New Jersey.
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"Brother, did I tell you the joke about the Bear and the Eagle?"
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If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the President is out of his element when it comes to managing international affairs. 

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Perhaps he ought to call Bill Clinton back into service.  If nothing else, that guy knew a LOT about affairs (both foreign AND domestic).
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I guess the real problem is that when a guy like Barack Obama tells the Russians that he is 'flexible' he cannot maintain the respect of his / our friends, or worst case, his / our opponents.  When America fails to stand as a guiding light of Freedom to the rest of the world, the world looks elsewhere.  And the miserable sons of bitches who smell 'weakness', well, they assemble the troops, create a bit of mayhem, and take what they want.

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And US leadership wonders why it happened?

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Meet the new mascots of the US Executive branch (a visual aid, if you like)...

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Yes, they're both flexible, and one's a bit more of an 'ass' than the other.  
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Which character represents the President and which represents Joe Biden?  

I'll leave that up to you.

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