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By Christopher G. Adamo
ChrisAdamo.com
Last January, Rush Limbaugh shocked the liberal establishment, and much of the world, when he flatly assessed America's prospects under the Obama Administration with the words "I hope he fails." In the minds of myopic leftists who cannot comprehend the possibility of anything succeeding outside of taxpayer funded government programs, Limbaugh was expressing his desire for America itself to fail.
Surely, America could only succeed if Obama succeeds. This is the heart and soul of liberalism. But, like the rest of the liberal philosophy, it is fundamentally wrong. From the welfare state to the public school system to the various "family service" agencies that consistently peddle their poisonous anti-family agenda, it is liberalism itself that fails America on every occasion that it gains any new toehold in society.
In short, Limbaugh's assertion was that he hoped Obama's far-left radicalism would not succeed in doing still more damage to the country than has already been done by past liberal endeavors at state sponsored "compassion." Nor does he, or any other sincere American patriot, want to see a continuation of the international disasters that ensue as predictable repercussions of naive, morally and spiritually rudderless leftist dabbling in international affairs.
Unfortunately for the radio talk-show giant, as well as the rest of heartland America, that is precisely what Barack Obama, with his twisted philosophies and his ineptitude, has in store for this nation. The Olympic sight selection fiasco at Copenhagen was only the beginning.
To the hopelessly dull-witted, it may seem contradictory that European nations, who loudly claim to be so much happier with Barack Obama than they ever were with George W. Bush, would nonetheless rule against Obama's wishes on an issue in which he invested so much of his credibility. The "slap in the face" that they delivered to him on the world stage will not soon be forgotten. Yet to expect otherwise, based on the presumption of universal international adulation for the Obamas, is to ascribe to a worldview that is completely devoid of the realities of modern international relations.
When dealing with the America of George W. Bush, foreign leaders were compelled to respect the intentions and desires of America, whether they liked it or not. In the wake of 9-11, Bush's assessment of the world as "either with us or against us," imputed a requirement on all countries to take a side in the Terror War, and expect to be held accountable to it.
Of course this generated much backlash against President Bush, since so many of America's "allies," had frittered away the decade of the 1990s, when they should have been shoring up their defenses against the dangerous rise of militant Islam. But while the Islamist threat grew and metastasized, several European nations were making underhanded deals with middle-eastern leaders. The infamous "oil for food" program, by which Saddam Hussein exploited the corruption of so many prominent Europeans, was the most egregious example. That sort of international game playing, which lined the pockets of crooked officials while yielding the insidious side effect of empowering terrorist states, could not continue unchecked without eventually reaching a day of reckoning.
President Bush was indeed despised for standing firm and effectively shutting down the scam. So of course the countries that had benefited from the laxities of Clinton-era international relations were not happy that their lucrative game was ending. Now they once again see increased opportunities to wheel and deal as they had done, unhampered by an American executive branch that is too weak and ideologically disjointed to call them to account.
The problem for Barack Obama is that, prior to the Copenhagen decision, he had perceived the international reaction to him as supportive and sincere. Only under such a muddled premise could he or his wife have hoped, by their sophomoric and self-absorbed lobbying, to garner victory in their bid to have Chicago host the 2016 Olympics. Make no mistake about it, this was no mere decision on the location of a sporting event. By his presence in Copenhagen, Obama had elevated its significance to that of a major international accord. In the end, the other participating nations viewed it as no less significant.
Now, the brutal reality of his real international standing is hitting him directly in the face, though he may still be too self-aggrandizing and shallow to comprehend it. The other nations of the world do not "like" him personally, but they like the detrimental effect he is having on a nation that they have long viewed as too powerful and too competitive with their own interests.
America, in their view, needs to be cut down to size. And Barack Obama, with his abhorrent and counterproductive economic and domestic policies, is just the person to do it. If the American economic engine can be sufficiently weakened, then the rest of the world can move past it. Ditto on the diplomatic front. As the sole world "superpower," America has historically been the defining force in the direction of international affairs in which it became involved. But if it can be mired down in failed social and diplomatic policy, its international role can likewise be significantly reduced.
This is the America that Europe, and much of the rest of the world wants to see. This is the "change" for which America's competitors on the world scene had so fervently hoped. And if the "useful idiot" leading the country eventually becomes a victim of the collapsing international standing that he has so diligently championed, such "collateral damage" is of little or no consequence to them.
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Christopher G. Adamo has been active in Wyoming politics for many years and
is a managing partner in Best American Buy (www.bestamericanbuy.com), an
e-commerce business that markets American made products including the
incomparable Abigail Adams Bedspread Set from Bates Mills. Contact information
for Chris Adamo, and his archives, can be found at www.chrisadamo.com