Big in Japan

Right on cue, the love pours forth from the Middle East for President-Elect Barack Obama:

I am afraid that Obama will let the Arabs and Muslims down. It is true he vowed to negotiate with Iran and withdraw American troops from Iraq. But at the same time, he spoke of attacking terrorists in Pakistan and beefing up the US troops in Afghanistan. He has not apparently noticed that the air raids mounted in Pakistan foment anti-Americanism; nor has he realized that the US-led coalition in Afghanistan has lost the war there. Taliban is in Kabul suburbs; its men are wreaking death and destruction inside the capital. He supported Georgia even though it attacked South Ossetia, accusing Russia of aggression.

What alarms me the most in Obama’s foreign policy is his stance on the Palestinian cause. His address to the Jewish lobby (AIPAC) was worse than John McCain’s and Hillary Clinton’s. A few neo-cons have even started deserting the Republican sinking boat like rats, only to rally behind the president-elect.

Or, you know, not so much.

The real world is a lot messier than simple “hope” and “change.”

Back after the 2002 or ’04 elections, I wrote a couple of open letters. One to the Democrats and one to the Republicans. I warned the Republicans to treat us like grown-ups, or they’d get tossed to the curb. Well, guess what — that’s exactly what happened over the course of the next few years. I also warned the Democrats that they’d better start behaving like grown-ups.

They’ve got their chance. Let’s hope they take it.