Obama's lost face

American Thinker ^ | December 27, 2009 | J.R. Dunn

[neverdem]

Why did Chinese premier Wen Jiabao choose to publicly humiliate Barack Obama at Copenhagen? In their eyes, and those of much of the world, he has lost face, and with it, power and influence. While getting widespread play overseas, this story has been kept very quiet by our disinterested, nonpartisan media (I haven't seen it mentioned in any major U.S. outlet).

After promising to meet the Messiah at 7:00 p.m., Premier Wen stiffed him in favor of a meeting with the leaders of India, South Africa, and Brazil. Rather than wait, a no-doubt infuriated Obama stalked into the room in question and demanded, "Are you ready to see me, Premier Wen?" No word on Wen's reaction, though he did submit to a discussion on the spot that evidently sealed the release of the immortal and glorious Copenhagen Quasi-Agreement on Climate Change.

So with Barack Obama, we've reached the point where the leader of record of the most powerful state in history has become a man you can casually stand up. But the question remains, why?

There are a number of reasons why the Chinese might take a cavalier attitude toward an American leader. China is the chief foreign holder of American debt, which may well have created an impression of the U.S. as a beggar nation on the level of a failed African republic. (I strongly suspect that words were exchanged on this topic during Obama's recent visit to China, though we're unlikely ever to learn about them in detail.)

There's also the matter of race. As is true of most Asians, the Chinese sense of racial superiority is cultural and innate. This is a people who refer to Caucasians as "ghost shadows"; what they think of American blacks is probably best not dwelt upon.

Then there's the deep aura of unseriousness that Obama has generated around himself. Though essentially incalculable, this factor is undeniable and will grow in importance and impact as time passes.

But there's one event in particular that very likely played a part -- the fact that, only a few weeks before, Obama publicly and notoriously bowed to the emperor of Japan.

Japan and China have a lengthy history, very little of which can be termed benign. They have always been rivals, often acting at cross purposes and usually at sword's point. But the past century of Sino-Japanese relations has been little short of horrendous.

Japan's militarist government occupied Manchuria in 1931 and proceeded to menace the Republic of China for several years afterward. In June 1937, as a result of a contrived confrontation known as the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident", Japan escalated to open conquest. Occupying Nanking in December of that year, the Japanese army carried out a city-wide massacre that in little more than a month resulted in over 250,000 deaths. So brutal were Japanese actions that they could not, in a pre-Auschwitz world, be referred to directly in news accounts. Sixty years passed before the story was completely told in Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking (Chang, a less than stable personality in the first place, was so deeply affected that she later committed suicide, after telling friends that she could not get the images of the killings out of her mind.)

For nearly a decade Japan occupied vast areas of China, a period marked by further massacres, atrocities, and casual violations of the human spirit. It's safe to say that, but for the even viler activities of the Nazis, the Japanese occupation would stand as one of the peak moments of human cruelty in the modern era. (It's undeniable that Japanese human experiments in their Chinese and Manchurian prison camps were fully as loathsome as those of the Nazis.)

Though the Chinese don't discuss the matter, their attitude toward Japan and the Japanese can easily be imagined. Particularly since Japan, unlike Germany, has only in recent years reached the point of admitting to "irregularities" in its occupation, much less issuing an apology or offering reparations.

So here comes Obama, as ignorant of all this as a little lamb.

Many will recall the uproar that surrounded Ronald Reagan's 1985 visit to a German cemetery at Bitburg, instigated by the existence of SS graves within line of sight of the ceremony. The attitude of the Chinese to Obama's bow must be similar. From that point of view, Wen's behavior should be taken as a rebuke, not to the United States so much as to Obama personally.

Which only goes to underline the reason why diplomatic protocol exists in the first place -- to exclude through ritual actions all possibilities that error, misunderstanding, or personal pique might interfere with matters of state. Obama has yet to learn this. His insistence on winging it, on reinventing established practice on his own terms, is potentially far more than simply embarrassing. It could be actively dangerous. His refusal to go by the rules may well have cost him the opportunity to pose as Savior of Gaia in Copenhagen. It may cost him -- and the country -- far more at some future time.

J.R. Dunn is consulting editor of American Thinker.

[Liz]

Obama’s got two faces-—pasted together.

[Enterprise]

"I keep getting the impression it is 1936 again."

It DOES seem that way!

[marktwain]

“With all the borrowing that is and will take place, China owns us now. They can ‘dictate’ what we will do to some extent.”

And just how is that? They own a lot of US paper. How does that translate into any real threat?

[Centurion2000]

Obama will be like the wife beater; gets snubbed by other world leaders(men), take it out on the citizenry of the USA(people mostly defenseless against his depredations).

[hinckley buzzard]

The world at large understands that Obama is a child trying to fill a man's shoes and with no clue as to how to do it. Many will, out of respect for America's standing and might, keep their conclusions discrete.

That the normally reserved Chinese would act in such openly disrespectful fashion, however, means that other, less circumspect, actors are now free to do what they will, confident that Obama is out of gas.

Expect the despots and demogogues of the world to turn up the volume of their anti-Obama rantings and the profusion of anti-American deals among the thieves of the world to increase. This will be the price for Obama's desire to reduce America to the status of "just another country."

[hinckley buzzard]

Actually his fumbling incompetence at foreign policy is very Carteresque. The Soviets could see Carter coming a mile away and they just sharpened their teeth in anticipation. The net result was the average of one nation going communist every four months for the whole Carter administration, while idiot Jimmuh was out there pontificating about human rights.

Today America's enemies are busily moving their chips to the other side of the table.

[Lancey Howard]

There was an unimaginable scene as the president strolled into a meeting of other leaders, only to find there literally was not a seat for him at the table. He quickly said he would "sit by my friend Lula," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lzula da Silva.

Reporters summoned to a quick photo op of the session witnessed an unusually chaotic scene for a diplomatic setting.

Mr. Obama was heard raising his voice as he asked, "Mr. Premier, are you ready to see me? Are you ready?"

The question was aimed at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

There was an uncharacteristic edge to Mr. Obama's voice as he addressed the Chinese leader.

[brooklin]

They stop buying our debt. We have really worthless money. We are broke and living on the chinese dime.

[mombonn]

After promising to meet the Messiah at 7:00 p.m., Premier Wen stiffed him in favor of a meeting with the leaders of India, South Africa, and Brazil.

I can remember at least twice that he REFUSED dinner with the leaders of host countries. France and Denmark?

His arrogance is breath-taking on so many levels.

[marktwain]

“They stop buying our debt. We have really worthless money. We are broke and living on the chinese dime.”

So? We will then have to stop buying Chinese products, along with a lot of other stuff, as the world economy tanks. Or, if we don't, what do the Chinese do with all those dollars that we pay for their stuff with? It is not as if they buy our debt out of the kindness of their hearts. If the dollar disappeared tomorrow, lots of nasty things would happen, but basic reality would assert itself in a couple of months. Some new currency would be issued. The question would be where the blame would be placed in order to shape the new order of things. If it were rightly placed on Socialist something for nothing politics, we might come out of the situation with a good chance of rebuilding. If capitalism and freedom are blamed... we could be in on the beginning of a new dark age.

[Balding_Eagle]

I have far more faith than you do in the wisdom of our Founding Fathers as evidenced by the Constitution and other founding documents, and in the ingenuity and determination of the American people.

We only need a leader.

[brooklin]

Who would suffer more?

[Condor51]

*** What he is saying is that other governments around the world -- those tyrannical states that do not share our respect for the minority -- are better forms of government, better equipped to compete in this modern world. This is a frightening new side of Barack Obama. ***

Barry is a Commie and Totalitarian. He was raised by a commie loving skank, mentored by a card carrying commie and surrounded in college (plural) by totalitarian commie lovers.

He may not be the Antichrist, but he's just as evil. Given a chance he'd make East Germany look like a democratic republican paradise to *his idea* of what the USA should be.

(I don't know how long I'll be logged onto FR today. I'm having HUGH monitor issues. It just started working from 5:45 am CST. Power works, screen stays black after a flicker of whats should show).

[The Comedian]

Because Dear Leader squats to pee?

I don't care who you are, that is funny.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[combat_boots]

“Bill Maher China is so efficient”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1gH8aUhcTA

[Danae]

LMAO

[Richard Kimball]

Well, it's cBS, so I don't know if it's reliable, but here's a link: CBS story

The meat of the story:

There was an unimaginable scene as the president strolled into a meeting of other leaders, only to find there literally was not a seat for him at the table. He quickly said he would "sit by my friend Lula," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lzula da Silva.
Reporters summoned to a quick photo op of the session witnessed an unusually chaotic scene for a diplomatic setting.
Mr. Obama was heard raising his voice as he asked, "Mr. Premier, are you ready to see me? Are you ready?"
The question was aimed at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
There was an uncharacteristic edge to Mr. Obama's voice as he addressed the Chinese leader.
It reflected U.S. exasperation over China's decision to assign a lower-level official to summit talks even though the premier was in the conference center. The president had already met with Wen shortly after arriving in Denmark.
Aboard Air Force One on the flight home from Copenhagen, a senior official revealed an intriguing account of the climax to the president's long day in Denmark. The official described the president's irritation with the Chinese.
He told his staff, "I don't want to mess around with this anymore. I want to just talk to Premier Wen."
Chinese officials sent mixed signals. They said Wen was at a hotel as his staff waited at the Copenhagen airport. The U.S. was also under the impression that other key countries were ready to abandon the summit.
The Chinese sent word that Wen would meet again with the president.
When Mr. Obama arrived for that meeting, he found the Chinese leader conferring with his counterparts from Brazil, India and South Africa.
A senior official denied that the president and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton crashed the meeting. The official explained Mr. Obama merely showed up at the appointed time to confer with Wen and found the other leaders there too.
Top Obama aides learned of the meeting only moments before the president arrived.
The senior official was at a loss to explain why the U.S. was not fully aware of the activities of some of the other key players at the meeting except to note more than a hundred countries were involved. Officials say the impromptu side summit helped the five countries agree on options to verify pollution reduction efforts.

[marktwain]

“Who would suffer more?”

This is not an easy question, as suffering is somewhat subjective, but I would say that the Chinese people would suffer the most. The Chinese elite could suffer even more if there is enough unrest to unseat the government. The American elite would likely suffer little, as we have a nonviolent method of unseating the government. The American people would suffer, but we have such a greater margin of abundance to drop down to subsistence levels, that I doubt that we would come anywhere near the suffering of depression levels. We could only come down that far if we have a similar situation to the great depression, where the government keeps on meddling, constantly “experimenting” so that no one can plan anything with an degree of certainty that the rules will not change the next day. I admit, that is what the current administration seems to be doing. Let us work hard to change that situation.

[USNBandit]

Ah, but some amount of truth is required for most forms of humor.