The Axis of Evil Gives Obama a Lesson in Rogue Diplomacy

Barack Obama severely criticized President Bush's policies for dealing with despots. He advocated a policy of engagement. How is that working out? North Korea is rattling it's nuclear arsenal and firing long missiles as fast as they can mount them on the launch pad. Iran is brutally suppressing a democratic uprising and trying to blame us for causing it. President Obama gets a 'fail' when it comes to dealing with Iran and North Korea. From the Wall Street Journal:

President Obama took office loudly promising to be the anti-George W. Bush of foreign policy, vowing to "extend a hand" to adversaries "willing to unclench" their fists. What he has received instead is an education in the reality of global rogues, and how he responds has become a major test of his Presidency.

The immediate challenges are North Korea and Iran, governments that the American left claimed were "evil" only because Mr. Bush had declared them so. Perhaps Mr. Obama believed this too, though five months later he has learned otherwise. North Korea has rejected his every overture and is now defying the U.N. to press its nuclear and proliferation ambitions. As for Iran, the mullahs are attempting to crush a popular uprising after a stolen election while also showing disdain for Mr. Obama's diplomatic entreaties.

The question is whether Mr. Obama will now adapt his policies to meet challenges he clearly didn't expect. Jimmy Carter took office with similar illusions about the Soviet Union, promising to cure our "inordinate fear of Communism." Our enemies pushed back at what they perceived to be U.S. weakness, and Mr. Carter and his NSC adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski never recovered. We'll soon learn if Mr. Obama is made of sterner stuff.

39% of Americans Blame Obama for Bad economy

The latest Rasmussen reports poll has 39% of Americans blaming Obama's policies for the bad economy. that is up 12 points in one month.
According to Rasmussen Reports:

While most U.S. voters still blame the Bush Administration for the nation’s economic problems, a growing number are inclined to blame President Barack Obama.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of voters now say the country’s economic problems are caused more by the policies Obama has put in place. That’s a 12-point jump from a month ago.

Obama continues to ignore events in Iran

President Obama kept silent on Iran on Sunday. He went on a Father's Day golf outing. Republicans are criticizing his very low key approach. President Obama hasn't even called for a recount of the vote in Iran. Some Iranians are also criticizing Obama. Iranian student activist Ahmad Betebi who was sentenced to death by the evil regime in Iran after the student protests of 1999, but later escaped to the US said,

"His (Obama) lack of response will not be regarded lightly. We will watch for how much his response will help the people or the regime. We will know more this week... Obama can hold talks with the regime in Iran if he wants. Is it morally correct for Obama to support the regime? Does he actually believe the people of Iran will appreciate that? The social movement requires support. If the world really wants the advent of terrorism to disappear in the Middle East, if they want peace with the Palestinians and Israel, if they want nuclear techhology to be developed for peaceful things and not nuclear weapons... They only need to support the people of Iran right now. This regime has the most dangerous of ideologies. They're killing the opposition.

According to the Boston Globe:

Tehran's streets fell mostly quiet for the first time since a bitterly disputed June 12 presidential election, but there were reports that government forces appeared to be pressing arrests of defiant protesters after the official death toll swelled to at least 17.

The White House did not book any surrogates on the Sunday talk shows to defend or explain the administration's approach. Republicans used their broadcast appearances to call the president timid or feckless, while the Democrat who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee said the U.S. had no hand in the disputed election.

Like other Democrats who spoke Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein backed the president's approach.

"It is very crucial as I see that we not have our fingerprints on this," she said, "that this really be ... truly inspired by the Iranian people. We don't know where this goes."

A day earlier, Obama invoked the American civil rights struggle to condemn violence against demonstrators, some of whom have carried signs in English asking, "Where is My Vote?"

It was his strongest statement on what has become the most significant challenge to Iran's ruling structure since the Islamic revolution 30 years ago, but it stopped short of demanding a recount or new election, as many of the demonstrators seek.

Twitter Takes a Poop on Evil Iranian Regime. LOL.

Twitter Takes a Poop on Evil Iranian Regime. LOL.

Obama's Presidential Approval Index is Negative for 1st Time

The failure of the stimulus to create jobs, concern over government interference in health care and Obama's lackadaisical attitude toward events in Iran are taking a toll. Analysis is mine. According to Rasmussen, President Obama's Presidential Approval Index is now negative 2.

Rasmussen Reports:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 32% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-four percent (34%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. That’s the President’s lowest rating to date and the first time the Presidential Approval Index has fallen below zero for Obama (see trends).

Democrats thought bipartisanship was good when Bush was in power, but it is a trap now

From PajamasMedia:

Peter Wehner writes that the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne, Jr. “has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of bipartisanship in the Age of Obama. It is a trap that Democrats can easily fall into and be snared by, so E.J. has decided to use his column to warn of its evils. In his column yesterday, for example, he wrote this:”

Where did we get the idea that the only good health care bill is a bipartisan bill? Is bipartisanship more important than whether a proposal is practical and effective?… Trying to achieve full bipartisanship by squaring those two views [held by Democrats and Republicans] is a recipe for incoherence…

Of course, as Wehner notes, prior to 2009, Dionne was writing passages such as this:

if the president were genuinely interested in a bipartisan compromise, he would put everything on the table – including his own tax cuts that have added to the budget deficit. (The Washington Post, 2/4/05)

Not to mention:

If ‘getting over’ the divisive and troubling endgame of the [2000] election is supposed to be in the national interest, doesn’t the president have an obligation to help? Is it unfair to insist that he pursue a more moderate course? (The Washington Post, 1/28/01)

Murder in the streets of Iran (video)

The thugs in charge of Iran are shooting protesters to death.




Meanwhile, Obama finally gave up his tactic of ignoring the violence and election fraud in Iran. He issued this lame statement and went for an ice cream.

Hat tip to Gateway Pundit for the ice cream picture.

There is Less Support for Major Health Care Overhaul Now than in 1993

A report by the Pew Research Center has found that fewer people want a major overhaul of our health care system now than did in n1993 when Hillary Clinton failed in her efforts.
The Pew research Center reported:

As health care reform legislation moves forward in Washington, the political environment is somewhat different than the last time a major overhaul of the health care system was attempted sixteen years ago. In early 1993 the sense of a health care crisis was far more widespread than it is today – a 55% majority in 1993 said they felt the health care system needed to be “completely rebuilt” compared with 41% today. Health care costs were also a broader problem in 1993 – 63% of Americans said paying for the cost of a major illness was a “major problem” for them, compared with 48% currently.

The issue of limiting overall health care spending is also more prominent in 2009 than it was in 1993. Somewhat fewer today say the country spends “too little” on health care, and a larger share believe that limiting the overall growth in health care costs is a higher priority than expanding coverage. But overall, public support for guaranteed access to medical care for all Americans remains widespread.