Submission accomplished
CNN's Chris Matthews, who said during the last presidential campaign that every time he heard Barack Obama speak he got "a thrill up my leg," has embarrassed himself by gushing excessively about Mr. Obama in public once again.
Matthews compared Mr. Obama's speech to American troops in Afghanistan to the St. Crispan's Day speech by the title character in Shakespeare's Henry V.
It continues to fascinate me that a president who has lost few opportunities to apologize for America and abase himself (and, given the office he holds, the nation) before the world over the past four years is now being presented to the public as the second coming of Winston Churchill. Yes, he deserves credit for having made the decision about Osama bin Laden that any president would have made once the surest tip we had ever had about Obama's location fell into our laps- even though he waited seven months to make it. Whether he deserves credit for having accidentally been the president when that information did fall into our laps (largely as a result of work done by his predecessor) is, to say the least, debatable.
No, I'm afraid Henry V isn't exactly a comparison that comes readily to mind for a president who has spent his time in office caving in to North Korea and Iran, failing to support the Arab Spring, undermining the confidence of Israel in our reliability as an ally, failing to side with the dissidents in Iran when their moment seemed about to come, and generally looking for anybody to cave in to.
That is, when he wasn't insulting the Prime Minister of Israel on an open mike, gratuitously returning a bust of Winston Churchill lent to us by Great Britain early, or otherwise tripping over his own diplomatic feet. Actually, the character from Henry V Mr. Obama's time in office most brings to mind is the bombastic, ineffectual and slightly ridiculous Dauphin. Even the king whose army Henry V defeated at Agincourt, Charles VI of France, would be a bad comparison. He didn't personally abase himself before Henry- though perhaps that's because he wasn't present at Agincourt. The historical Charles was a schizophrenic, who didn't go into battle because he believed himself to be made of glass, and was afraid that he might break.
No, it is not the inspiring hero-king and conqueror of our enemies Mr. Obama has called to mind during his time in office. It's mostly been the well-intentioned bumbler. Nobody doubts Mr. Obama's intelligence, nor certainly his good will. The problem is with his massive naivete, apparently impervious to experience.
The trouble with all the posturing Mr. Obama and his campaign have done to commemorate the death of Osama bin Laden is that the image they're seeking to project is exactly the opposite of the one his record has earned, and it just doesn't ring true. The more Mr. Obama tries to look like Henry V, the more we're reminded that he's really the Dauphin. We do not visualize him standing tall upon an ox-cart, rallying troops facing overwhelming odds on the eve of St. Crispin's. The posture Americans have become most familiar with when Mr. Obama has represented our country on the world state is rather different.
President Bush erred in landing on that aircraft carrier and prematurely saying, "Mission accomplished!" about a war Mr. Obama, the mainstream media, and the Left always insisted was unwinnable, but which we won anyway.
President Obama telegraphs the true nature of his foreign policy when, intentionally or not, he goes to such great lengths to signal his submission to every foreign leader in sight. It's no wonder that he's no longer taken seriously on the international stage. He telegraphs his sincere and heart-felt eagerness not to be taken seriously.
It should be noted that international protocol states that one head of state does not bow to another, since this would indicate that the nation governed by the person doing the bowing is thereby abasing itself before the nation of the individual to whom he or she is bowing. It simply isn't done. But there is one exception- and it's troubling.
President Obama bows to Chinese President Hu
President Obama bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito
President Obama bows to Saudi King Abdullah
President Obama bows to Chinese Premier Wen
President Obama bows to the mayor of Tampa. Perhaps he mistook her for a foreign head of state.
President Obama bows to an undentified Hindu priest. At least this one actually was a foreigner.
In fairness, there is doubt about the authenticity of this particular photograph.
As Michelle Malkin has commented, the Left called President Bush a cowboy. His successor, it seems, is a waterboy.
I've been unable to locate the source of the quote, "The president of the United States bows to no man." But neither, as Ms. Malkin's article documents, do the President of France or the President of Germany or the President of the People's Republic of China or the Emperor of Japan or the Queen of the United Kingdom or the King of Saudi Arabia (prime ministers and chancellors are heads of government, but not of state).
In all the world, there is only one exception- and the more he tries to make himself look like Henry V, the more he ends up coming off like the Dauphin.
In his Pulitzer Prize winning book Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy told the story of Senator Thomas Hart Benton's visit to the House of Commons. He was seated in the Peer's Gallery observing the proceedings when an usher approached to tell him that he, a commoner, had to leave.
"Let him stay, let him stay!," the members of the House of Lords he was sitting with protested. "He's a peer in his own country!" Apparently they instinctively equated membership in the upper house of the British Parliament with membership in the upper house of the American Congress.
But Sen. Benton stood, and drew himself up to his full height. With great dignity he replied, "It is fitting that I depart. In my country I am a sovereign, and shall lose caste if am seen to associate with peers!"
President Obama is the one American citizen who perhaps more than any other is more of a minister or servant than a sovereign, at least for the time that he occupies the Oval Office. But precisely because he does occupy it, he symbolically represents the United States and every single one of us when, in his capacity as president, he has dealings with foreign leaders. And that being the case, he could use a little of Senator Benton's backbone in doing so.
His breaking protocol by bowing to kings and dictators is not a matter of mere politeness. In doing so, he symbolically demeans not only himself, but the nation he leads. Which is- far more disturbingly- something he seems to have a habit of doing, whenever the opportunity arises to apologize for America and its doings in the world.
Matthews compared Mr. Obama's speech to American troops in Afghanistan to the St. Crispan's Day speech by the title character in Shakespeare's Henry V.
It continues to fascinate me that a president who has lost few opportunities to apologize for America and abase himself (and, given the office he holds, the nation) before the world over the past four years is now being presented to the public as the second coming of Winston Churchill. Yes, he deserves credit for having made the decision about Osama bin Laden that any president would have made once the surest tip we had ever had about Obama's location fell into our laps- even though he waited seven months to make it. Whether he deserves credit for having accidentally been the president when that information did fall into our laps (largely as a result of work done by his predecessor) is, to say the least, debatable.
No, I'm afraid Henry V isn't exactly a comparison that comes readily to mind for a president who has spent his time in office caving in to North Korea and Iran, failing to support the Arab Spring, undermining the confidence of Israel in our reliability as an ally, failing to side with the dissidents in Iran when their moment seemed about to come, and generally looking for anybody to cave in to.
That is, when he wasn't insulting the Prime Minister of Israel on an open mike, gratuitously returning a bust of Winston Churchill lent to us by Great Britain early, or otherwise tripping over his own diplomatic feet. Actually, the character from Henry V Mr. Obama's time in office most brings to mind is the bombastic, ineffectual and slightly ridiculous Dauphin. Even the king whose army Henry V defeated at Agincourt, Charles VI of France, would be a bad comparison. He didn't personally abase himself before Henry- though perhaps that's because he wasn't present at Agincourt. The historical Charles was a schizophrenic, who didn't go into battle because he believed himself to be made of glass, and was afraid that he might break.
No, it is not the inspiring hero-king and conqueror of our enemies Mr. Obama has called to mind during his time in office. It's mostly been the well-intentioned bumbler. Nobody doubts Mr. Obama's intelligence, nor certainly his good will. The problem is with his massive naivete, apparently impervious to experience.
The trouble with all the posturing Mr. Obama and his campaign have done to commemorate the death of Osama bin Laden is that the image they're seeking to project is exactly the opposite of the one his record has earned, and it just doesn't ring true. The more Mr. Obama tries to look like Henry V, the more we're reminded that he's really the Dauphin. We do not visualize him standing tall upon an ox-cart, rallying troops facing overwhelming odds on the eve of St. Crispin's. The posture Americans have become most familiar with when Mr. Obama has represented our country on the world state is rather different.
President Bush erred in landing on that aircraft carrier and prematurely saying, "Mission accomplished!" about a war Mr. Obama, the mainstream media, and the Left always insisted was unwinnable, but which we won anyway.
President Obama telegraphs the true nature of his foreign policy when, intentionally or not, he goes to such great lengths to signal his submission to every foreign leader in sight. It's no wonder that he's no longer taken seriously on the international stage. He telegraphs his sincere and heart-felt eagerness not to be taken seriously.
It should be noted that international protocol states that one head of state does not bow to another, since this would indicate that the nation governed by the person doing the bowing is thereby abasing itself before the nation of the individual to whom he or she is bowing. It simply isn't done. But there is one exception- and it's troubling.
President Obama bows to Chinese President Hu
President Obama bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito
President Obama bows to Saudi King Abdullah
President Obama bows to Chinese Premier Wen
President Obama bows to the mayor of Tampa. Perhaps he mistook her for a foreign head of state.
President Obama bows to an undentified Hindu priest. At least this one actually was a foreigner.
In fairness, there is doubt about the authenticity of this particular photograph.As Michelle Malkin has commented, the Left called President Bush a cowboy. His successor, it seems, is a waterboy.
I've been unable to locate the source of the quote, "The president of the United States bows to no man." But neither, as Ms. Malkin's article documents, do the President of France or the President of Germany or the President of the People's Republic of China or the Emperor of Japan or the Queen of the United Kingdom or the King of Saudi Arabia (prime ministers and chancellors are heads of government, but not of state).
In all the world, there is only one exception- and the more he tries to make himself look like Henry V, the more he ends up coming off like the Dauphin.
In his Pulitzer Prize winning book Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy told the story of Senator Thomas Hart Benton's visit to the House of Commons. He was seated in the Peer's Gallery observing the proceedings when an usher approached to tell him that he, a commoner, had to leave.
"Let him stay, let him stay!," the members of the House of Lords he was sitting with protested. "He's a peer in his own country!" Apparently they instinctively equated membership in the upper house of the British Parliament with membership in the upper house of the American Congress.
But Sen. Benton stood, and drew himself up to his full height. With great dignity he replied, "It is fitting that I depart. In my country I am a sovereign, and shall lose caste if am seen to associate with peers!"
President Obama is the one American citizen who perhaps more than any other is more of a minister or servant than a sovereign, at least for the time that he occupies the Oval Office. But precisely because he does occupy it, he symbolically represents the United States and every single one of us when, in his capacity as president, he has dealings with foreign leaders. And that being the case, he could use a little of Senator Benton's backbone in doing so.
His breaking protocol by bowing to kings and dictators is not a matter of mere politeness. In doing so, he symbolically demeans not only himself, but the nation he leads. Which is- far more disturbingly- something he seems to have a habit of doing, whenever the opportunity arises to apologize for America and its doings in the world.
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