My Two Cents Today

I'm watching or reading the foodfights in the blogosphere today after President Obama's Libya policy. Actually 75% of Americans support the No Fly Zone and an equal number agree that America should not have troops on the ground. But approval of the Obama policy is lower because Republicans don't like the idea it's Barack Obama doing it with a coalition from "Old Europe" and the Arab League. It was so much better when it was cowboy intervention. You can shout, "USA! USA!" and go back to watching the tube.

Somehow the Left doesn't remember that President Obama has never been a pacifist. Progressives should remember their "conditional" support of him for President. The conditional was all on his vow to fight terrorism and escalate in Afghanistan. Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich think he could be impeached. The Free Republic, who always think he should be impeached, are outraged but when are they not.

Ms. Lindsey Graham was miffed yesterday on Fox News, saying that Obama is reluctant to lead the "Free World" and was to blame for unrest in Bahrain and Yemen. Why not Syria too?

Serious people like Andrew Sullivan, Josh Marshall and Steve Clemons haven't figured out what they really think. They are tending toward the negative. Michael Lind, writing on Salon,says it's all unconstitutional and with China abstaining, we don't have more than half the world on our side. Unlike say...hmmm...Iraq. The real problem with the serious guys is that they have to write every day and actually have an opinion and you aren't allowed to think too closely about things.

This is really a time for the word--Maybe. Maybe it will work and Maybe it won't. Maybe we like the idea of a broad coalition with a specific goal. Maybe we would like a bloodcurdling yell of regime change. That really worked out well with Venezuela,Zimbabwe and Iran. Maybe we are tired of wars against brown people. Maybe we do have to use force even though the neocons pretty much destroyed that idea. It's not a yes or no time.

It's only been a few days. I know Huffington Post is screaming that it could last indefinitely. I'm confident in Obama that it won't. I'm also confident that the King of Kings will be deposed. I am not confident about what will follow. Or yes, President Obama did say today that American foreign policy was that Qaddafhi must go. But he did say that the United States had other tools on hand to create the conditions for him to leave. Conservatives should remember that Ronald Reagan bombed Libya and the Libyan leader remained and got even with Lockerbie. We never mention blowback.

Listening to President Obama's Persian New Year speech to the Iranian youth,it's clear that emotionally he's committed to the great wave of change in the Middle East. He explicitly told the Iranian youth he was with them on the issue of democratic change.

One hopes this is not triumphalism. Yesterday,millions voted in Egypt to establish the rules for the next election.Today, an elite corps of the Yemeni army defected to the revolutionaries. Thousands have finally started protesting against the Syrian regime. So far none of the forces of change have exhibited menancing attributes.So maybe it will be a turning point for the whole region.

I find it refreshing to hear discussions about Middle Eastern politics without the chronic debate on how this will impact Israel. I think alot of the neocons, who want to get back in the ballgame, are disappointed that the change elements seem quasi-democratic without any tinge of fanaticism or a love of terrorism.

What happens to elements of our own country if Arabs demand freedoms we all recognize? What happens to the narrative being written by Rep. King and others that all Muslims are somehow subversive and constitute a "fifth column" in America? Does that mean that people can not root for them to overthrow autocrats?

Luckily, the time when the United States depends on autocratic regimes in the region is coming to a close. A fond farewell.

Meanwhile I'll keep watching how the blogosphere settles down and watch President Obama in Latin America. I would like to remind everyone that America exports more to Latin America than to China and that Latin America exports more to us than to Europe. While President Obama is in the region,I keep asking myself whether Latin America was better off when we neglect it or better off when we decide to engage it. This seems to take place every ten years.

I am sure when President Obama gets to El Salvador, the Right is going to explode. He is scheduled to pay homage at the tomb of Archbishop Romero,who was assassinated by right-wing death squads. The trip is meant to show that the United States can do business with a leftwing Latin American Government. The government of El Salvador is currently led by veterans of the FMLN, the guerrilla movement which was opposed by the United States in 1980.