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.
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"On all these issues, but particularly missile defense ... this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space," Obama said.
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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."
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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.
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The White House, though, downplayed the conversation between Obama and Medvedev.
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SOURCE:  FOX News
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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?  
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I'll leave that up to you.

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