Pretty descriptions for ugly realities -yeah, “solutionism” what would the UN do without showing up to vote for resolutions, politicking, then again voting non-binding resolutions and plans, then promoting Somalia and Lybia in the Human Rights Watch, etc., etc -

Yet, photo-ops & grins aside, promises and arrangements leaked to the press, the ugly reality is still, untameable there – the planet is too small for so many people, the resources are not enough for so many nations, and we have entered in the age of unsovable conflicts.
The djinn in out from the bottle – there is no way to stop Iran, because Ahmadinejad himself cannot control the local political strife caused by the cultural and social dynamics at work in Iran.

As another facet of this situation, is Obama who acted like a fool in giving the Russians what is not theirs in exchange for a hypothetical manifestation of an influence that they simply don’t have over Iran – and here we are.

Again, Gillray’s drawing illustrates well the today’s UN activities -

Sorry, pal, but that was a pretty transparent effort. All the snarky little DailyKos talking points are showing.

Obama, like Dinkins isn’t bad as much as he’s detached and fearful of challenging the more vocal parts of his base when it comes to their pet issues. And when it comes to foreign policy and the Middle East, there’s a large part of his base that sees Israel as a bigger problem than the Palestinians in the Middle East. They’re the ones who made the president’s U.N. speech sound the way it does, and as long as most of the people who felt affronted by it vote Republican — i.e. are not part of Obama’s voting coalition — he’s not going to see the need to challenge his side on their anti-Israeli views.

Better just to let them have their say, even if they’re having it through your mouth, and just kick the can down the road and hope nothing really bad happens between now and 2012 that suddenly forces you to choose between your pro-Palestinian supporters and Jewish voters who provided Obama with both their votes and major financial support last year, which is what happened with Dinkins after Crown Heights and was one of the reasons why he lost his mayoral rematch with Rudy Giuliani in 1993.

Actually Obama is an intelligent, reasonable, educated man pursing a rather centrist course. (No single-payer for health care, no quick retreat from Iraq, etc.)

This after the great buffoon Bush managed to botch two wars, alienate the U.S. from the world and fail to catch Bin Laden. This, yes, on top of having to nationalize the banks. (Have someone explain to you what socialism really is, yahoos.)

One can support Israel while having some real doubts about Netanyahu’s course. I certainly know many Israelis who think catering to the settlers is a disaster.

I keep it simple: your rage at Obama is not simply misplaced and out of line, it’s telling. It says something about you.

The last seven years have been a debacle, an awful time for America. The G.O.P. then nominated a man in his seventies and the least qualified, most risible vice-presidential candidate in our history.

Ronsenbaum may be right that there are no clear cut “solutions”. But Obama is clearly a huge improvement, this despite the sputtering venom he inspires in so many morons.

As a matter of fact, solutionists, as you call them, don’t believe in human nature, they believe in social determinism. Anyone who accepts the Thucydidean idea of a human nature that transcends time and place is, like it or not, a conservative.

Perhaps your resistance to the idea you might be one of us at heart explains why you see bitterness and misanthropy as the only viable alternatives to our current President’s increasingly feckless performance in foreign affairs.

I humbly offer these observations for your consideration as evidence of my inherent hatred, racism, cowardice etc.

Regards -
Mary McLaughlin