Thursday, April 16, 2009

The French Political Fashion Sense

Nicolas Sarkozy puts Barack Obama in the doghouse

France has been cooing along with everyone else over the arrival of Bo Obama at the White House, but the master of America's new First Dog is no longer in good odour with President Sarkozy.

Apparently Nicolas Sarkozy is the first in Europe to step to the forefront of world leaders and speak openly about the emperor's wardrobe and the fallacious economic representations of the American president, during his European visit last week.

Not the least of which being, what Sarkozy both sees and knows to be the abject fluff of Obama's economic optimism, which is clearly lacking substance when scrutinized by any rational mind. Whether other world leaders will openly admit it or not, Europeans have grown accustomed to strong American presidents and strong American policy. Presidents who whether they agreed with their polices or not, they were forced to pay attention to.

Not so the case with Barack Obama obviously.

From the minute he set foot in Europe last week, it became obvious to Americans back home and to the European audience, that most of that shine that he wore so lovingly through his European and world tour last year has now worn off.

And that was immediately obvious by the reactions of both Sarkozy of France and Merkel of Germany, as it concerned Obama's plan to attempt to infect the European economic system, with his scheme of spending our way out of economic crisis and potential destitution, via mind boggling deficit spending.

Thank God, that at the least these two saw through the smoke and stated up front and immediately, that they weren't interested in buying what the messianic one was hustling on economics. And the same became true concerning Obama's attempts to stimulate increased NATO participation in Afghanistan later in the week.

While he was able to garner some promises of a meager 5000 rear echelon support personnel (trainers) to be committed to Afghanistan, no one was buying into his requests for increased levels of non American combat troops. Which in essence was revealing of just how America and our newly minted president are viewed concerning the war in Afghanistan by Europeans IMO.

Perhaps those opinions will change in the future, once Al Qaida has revisited more terrorism and violence in the capitols of Europe, but not for now. IMO, It is obvious that the rest of the world is content to allow America to go it alone in Afghanistan in the fight against Islamic terrorism, regardless of who is in the White House.

And this too was a reality that was not lost on Nicolas Sarkozy and his observations and summations as it concerns the new president. It's as if these leaders in the EU know and recognize that Obama is not what was advertised and they are now more and more prepared to step out and cross blades with America and the man who claimed change. Obviously they aren't buying his change either.

And if there was one item on the agenda that Obama's handler's and advisers should have known would be like pissing down the legs of most of Europe last week, it was the Obama statement that he felt that Turkey should be brought into the EU.

The issue of Turkish membership in the EU, has to this point been krytonite to most who have attempted to touch it in the majority of Europe. And Obama will fair no better in the opinions of Europeans on that issue, than others who have stubbed their own toes on the topic.

And lastly, while there may be many who enjoy sitting around in circles singing we are the world and imagine, those others who haven't completely lost their minds know, that this is a dangerous world that we live in. And all the more dangerous everyday, as we watch rogue states like Iran and N Korea and their nuclear ambitions. Not to mention the present unstable circumstances in Pakistan that could flash over at any moment.

Now is not the time to become misty eyed and enamoured with fantasies as it concerns nuclear weapons and a world free of nuclear weapons. Because that isn't going to happen regardless of how many revisions of script for Nirvana are submitted by the Obama administration. Yet Obama is preparing to not only draw down American military capability globally and eliminate most systems for future defense, he is also preparing to draw down the American nuclear deterrent period it would seem.

And this in the face of N Korea's defiance of the world and Iran's open defiance and challenge to all western interest or concerns, as to their building of their own arsenal of nuclear weapons. Not to forget their aims and designs on Israel.

What is amazing to me? Is that most Europeans could possibly believe, that they would somehow be spared from being splashed by the aftermath of a nuclear attack on Israel.

But at least for now, it is worth watching the reactions of European leaders as they attempt to navigate their relationships with the new Obama administration. I wonder if Sarkozy has recommended any tailors to the emperor?

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