A leader of the free world not to be feared [THE FAINTHEARTED SURGER]

Orange County Register ^ | 4 December 2009 | Mark Steyn

[JLS]

If you happen to live in Kabul or Jalalabad, Ghurian or Kandahar, then a U.S. presidential speech about Afghanistan is, indeed, about Afghanistan. If you live anywhere else on the planet, a U.S. presidential speech about Afghanistan is really about America – about American will, American purpose, American energy. How quickly the bright new dawn fades to the gray morning after. In Europe, the long-awaited unveiling of this most thoughtful of presidents' deliberations got mixed reviews – some bad, some brutal. Der Spiegel called it "half-hearted," The Guardian called it "desperate." And those are his friends.

You could watch the great orator's listless, tentative performance with the sound down and get the basic message: I don't need this in my life right now. If you read the text, it made even less sense. There's something for everyone: A surge! ... and a withdrawal. He's agreed to surge for a bit, but only in preparation for a de-surge in 18 months' time. I said on the radio that the speech reminded me of the English nursery rhyme:

"The Grand Old Duke of York

He had ten thousand men

He marched them up to the top of the hill

And he marched them down again."

[JLS]

Steyn discusses the Obama speech on Afghanistan.

[JLS]

Here is another Steyn ping opportunity.

[mojito]

"In his speech, the so-called "leader of the free world" all but physically recoiled from the job description. Sorry about that. Not his bag. In the more toxic presidential palaces, you would have to be awfully virtuous not to take advantage of such a man. And soon.

I think this is an example of what the Left likes to call "speaking truth to power."

[pallis]

The world is discovering that their favorite Marxist ideologue is a wishy-washy idiot.