Posted on 09/13/2013 4:29:34 AM PDT by Kaslin
Dear President Putin:
First of all, thanks for “speaking directly to the American people” in your New York Times op-ed. I’d grown used to reading various communists in those pages, but to get a note from an actual Russian president is something special.
You may be noticing that it’s not going over so well. I thought I could explain.
The short answer is many of us feel we are on to you. We know we can’t trust Assad, and don’t get us started on trusting our own president. But you may be overplaying this so ham-handedly that some clarity may be emerging.
It all just looks too tidy. You, Assad and President Obama were all facing a dark fate. Obama was about to get a congressional punch in the nose, Assad was about to hear bombs whizzing by his windows and you were facing the loss of your Syrian friend and henchman.
Now it’s high fives all around. Assad can make dinner plans into the foreseeable future, Obama can crow about a “strong stance” that cooled all heads, and you are probably up for a Peace Prize from those knuckleheads at the Nobel Committee.
What happened?
All of you would like us to believe that the eternally wooden John Kerry embarked on a hypothetical riff that involved you pressuring Assad to submit his chemical weapons to international scrutiny, quickly qualifying that prospect by saying Assad “isn’t about to do it” and “it can’t be done.”
But wait! Apparently it can, and at lightning speed! You got your people to Geneva to meet with Kerry faster than I can run down to the corner for milk. In view of the usual glacial pace of such sensitive matters, this is a real eye-opener.
But what we see drips with suspicion. And now here you are, enjoying your momentary perch as global power-broker, lecturing Americans about “brute force" interventions and your preference for just calming down and talking everything out.
That’s always what tyrants want. No pesky rumblings of revolution, just everybody relax and we’ll have talks and more talks and more talks while I sink my roots deeper into a seat of power I do not want to relinquish.
Sure, there are plenty of Americans relieved that our own unfit commander-in-chief will not be launching half-hearted attacks into a war zone with no good guys to pragmatically root for. That doesn’t mean we are now ready to hear you, of all people, prattle about “international law” and United Nations agendas.
We want what is best for our country. We as Americans may argue over what that is, but there are things that raise our eyebrows. Murderous dictators suddenly spared punishment at the hands of devious friends is just too rich to dismiss.
So while I have no hidden video of you and President Obama plotting to put words in Kerry’s mouth that lead to the end of a drama that would not have played out well for either of you, I hope we can be forgiven for telling you to work on your own lumbering nation and spare us the doggerel about your swell new relations with President Obama.
You couldn’t even let your new best buddy enjoy a rare moment of invoking America as “exceptional.”
“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional,” you say in your op-ed wrap-up. “When we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”
There is something genuinely profane about an old KGB hack invoking God’s view of humanity’s shared blessings. And something stunningly stupid about viewing American exceptionalism as an exercise in ego.
When we say America is exceptional, we are not saying our people are better. We are saying our system is better, our devotion to liberty more courageous and long-standing, our commitment to fighting for it more muscular, our appreciation of it more profound.
Far from a narcissistic view, this is the ultimate in gratitude and humility. We in America want nothing more than to see freedom and prosperity spread from the masses in China to the God-forsaken moonscapes of the Middle East to the long-suffering strata of the Russian society you purport to lead.
So enjoy your moment. We are trying even now to find an Obama successor who can deal with you from a position of strength. We are willing to be friends, but we will not be patsies.
And before you insult us again with religious references, look among your circle of friends and see how Biblical their behavior seems, before wagging any more scolding fingers at America.
Sounds like Mark Davis is jealous. The Russians have a courageous President while we Americans have a ‘Little Pony’ President.
The pundits are all outraged. I on the other hand think we should take a long hard look at our “exceptionalism” and consider that maybe its time to do something.
NSA spying on the people - exceptionalism
Federal agencies deliberately working to smother “dangerous” political thought - exceptionalism
An ever growing bureaucratic fungal mat smothering entrepreneurship and crushing all will to strive or achieve - exceptionalism
Cradle to grave indoctrination of the communist party line in schools and ever growing social agencies - exceptionalism
Elected officials getting fabulously wealthy by legislating financial advantages for themselves - exceptionalism
Companies and unions buying influence with elected officials who legislate financial advantages for all 3 - Exceptionalism
Pedophile congressmen getting away with sleeping with underage prostitutes - exceptionalism
30 million + illegal aliens overrunning the country unchecked for someone elses political and financial gain - exceptionalism
Billions in foreign aid to nations that hate us - exceptionalism
Billions spent on pipe dream green energy scams that produce no energy and drive up costs - exceptionalism
Putin illustrates how dumb the American electorate is. Putin is a leader, like him or not, while our incompetent boob of a community organizer, has made us a third world country.
As if Putin gives a flying crap what Nancy Boy Davis has to say...
Like him or not, Putin cares about the interests of his own country. Obama doesn’t give a darn about the interests of his own country, assuming it’s the US, that is.
I would call Putin more of a real tiger than a courageous president. He is a KGB thug, has tortured and killed people personally, has left his wife of many years for some gymnast, he is ready to pounce at a split second’s notice, he is smart, wily and politically adept.
Ours is not. Ours is distracted and isolated.
Too much snarkiness directed at Putin.
More snarkiness needed toward Obama/Kerry.
IMO.
“...has tortured and killed people personally...”
I missed that. How about a few links. Thanks.
He’s KGB
Mark Davis has no business posing as a conservative. He was the worst guest host for Rush ever. There are competant talkers and scribblers who aren’t brilliant, but have good common sense and know their limitations. Davis is much less intelligent than he seems to think, and doesn’t know when he is babbling.
The other day I heard Rush venting his displeasure over Putin’s “exceptionalism” remarks. Personally, I would have been surprised if Putin’s view was different on the matter. He doesn’t understand why we are an exceptional nation-—just doesn’t get it. That’s expected.
I’m having a hard time working up any outrage, myself...it’s just too much fun watching Obungle get rolled by Putin.
Agreed. Let me add two more to your list.
Get involved in dozens of wasteful foreign adventures - exceptionalism
Pay families to sit around and not work, and pay them more if the father leaves the family - exceptionalism
Mark Davis is the only substitute for Rush that I automatically turn off.
2008 Obama was a pop-up candidate---came out of nowhere---groomed by Chicago criminal politics. After he got elected---his handlers admitted they let the media know only what THEY wanted them to know. Obama was cued to say all the right things---hope and change---even said he wanted to be another Reagan (probably the biggest lie any presidential candidate ever uttered).
Obama slipped up only once---and it was a whopper---he told Joe the Plumber he wanted to redistribute the wealth-=---a classic Communist phrase. Unfortunatly his snively RINO oppenent McCain never bothered to explain what that might mean for the once-powerful US economic engine---now in ruins.
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Now, I view Putin's NYT letter as a post-grad master's thesis---clearly, Putin was eager to proclaim his Christianity and seized on "exceptionalism" as the word upon which to lay the foundation for his proclamation.
We, the people, know we will never hear Obama say:
"......when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal," Putin wrote in the NYT.
......something every Christian believes---an article of faith for Christians.....and, not coincidentally, the bedrock of our constitutional republic.
Oh, puleez. Give Vlad credit for schooling hussein.
Bad people can be “good” leaders. I don’t like Mark Davis any more than anyone else on this thread, but I think his analysis is pretty accurate. I too was offended at Putin using religious language to deliberately confuse the issue of American exceptionalism. We ARE exceptional in the grander history of nation-states, in that we DO formally accept that all people are equal, not in terms of outcomes, but in terms of the inherent rights we have been given by our Creator. Putin’s deceitful remark crosses up the wiring and tries to make our exceptionalism an egotistic violation of the international collective. He converts one of our greatest national treasures into an offense against his Communist ideal of universal sameness. Why there is even a debate about this on FR is flabbergasting to me. This is Basic Conservatism 101. It is the root of who we are and why we are here and what we fight for. Putin is a KGB thug. He deserves no admiration. He is insulting our intelligence and getting away with it. Somehow, I just can’t see that as a good thing.
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