Posted on 02/02/2010 3:13:46 AM PST by Scanian
While pundits called President Obama on his failure to mention Israel and the Palestinian problem in last week's State of the Union Address, a far greater omission went ignored: Latin America.
Aside from one fleeting reference (to Colombia and free trade), the closest Obama came geographically was a rhetorical jaunt to the Caribbean to note the disaster in Haiti.
Mexico is battling a full-blown narco-insurgency right on our border. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez is constructing a vicious dictatorship. Argentina's stumbling toward a government crisis. While we were napping, Brazil became a great power.
None of them warranted a subordinate clause in one of the longest State of the Union speeches of our time.
The folly of slighting our own hemisphere is a maddening, bipartisan Washington tradition. We obsess about our no-win efforts in the Middle East while ignoring dynamic societies next door.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Why would he call attention to Banana Republics, while he’s busy trying to create his own, right here in River City?
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