Larry Elder on “”Cowboy’s” successor and the middle east

He’s the best. The best at cutting through the crap that’s out there. He’s my talk show hero. And he’s here with some great analysis.

Larry Elder does a great job here of outlining and then detailing the young President’s failure to deliver on setting a new tone internationally and instead of citing feelings, Elder cites facts. Now that my friends, is a true “conservatarian”. From IBD.

Obama’s first presidential meeting with a foreign leader was not with that of Great Britain — our closest ally, whose prime minister stood down opposition within his own party to join the effort in Iraq. Obama met with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Fatah party, to stress the importance of restarting the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” — which Obama considered essential to moderate Arab and Muslim views.

Obama chastised Israel, the other of our two closest allies, for building “settlements” in east Jerusalem — even though, pre-Obama, the Palestinian leadership had already accepted construction in that area as part of any future deal. Obama gave his first presidential sit-down interview to Al-Arabiya television network, where he asked “countries like Iran … to unclench their fist.” He hoped to deter Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, something candidate Obama called a “game changer” and “unacceptable.”

But those daily morning threat-assessment briefings can change a president.

The Obama administration, to prevent public exposure of intelligence-gathering sources and methods, used the same “state secrets” defense in court as did the Bush administration.

Obama continues the policy of rendition, the much-maligned practice of transferring a terrorist prisoner of war from one foreign country to another country that utilizes far-harsher interrogation techniques.

Guantanamo remains open because the prison contains some vicious terrorists that no country wants. The terror surveillance phone-monitoring program remains, as does the Patriot Act. Obama stepped up the use of drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Even Obama’s declaration to halt waterboarding contains wiggle room.

To the shock of Bush-haters, the Obama Justice Department — while disagreeing with the conclusions of the Bush lawyers who drafted the so-called “torture memo,” which provided a legal basis for waterboarding — cleared the lawyers of wrongdoing.

Obama negotiated “tough” sanctions against Iran, though Russia, China, India and Turkey continue to trade with that country or have announced plans to do so. Iran remains committed to its nuclear program, still threatens Israel, and claims to have dug mass graves in which to bury American soldiers should the U.S. use military force to stop its nuclear program.

“The Sage from South Central” understands the world looks a whole lot different when you are sitting in the big boy chair. Bush saw what was happening and changed US foreign policy accordingly. Obama and his lefties saw it differently and claimed a new world policy of “can’t we all just get along”, instead of the dastardly Bush “giddy up”, would change the world viewed us, and the world would be a better place. That is, until they found themselves in the big boy chair.

Miss him yet?