Good Question
Responding to Sen. John Ensign's latest swipe at President Obama for having shaken Hugo Chavez' hand, Steve Benen asks:
But the real question is this: how exactly would the Hypothetical Perfect Republican President ("HPRP") have handled this situation?
I can picture the encounter going one of several ways:
Scenario 1: Chavez approaches HPRP with hand outstretched. HPRP creates incredibly awkward scene by completely ignoring Chavez until he eventually goes away.
Scenario 2: Chavez approaches HPRP with hand outstretched. HPRP extends his own hand as if he's going to shake but then pulls it away at the last second and says "psyche!" He then high fives the president of Argentina.
Scenario 3: Chavez approaches HPRP with hand outstretched. HPRP takes Chavez' hand but then immediately flips him over his shoulder and body slams him to the ground.
Maybe the next time John Ensign or New Gingrich raises this issue, some enterprising reporter can follow up and clarify which of these scenarios represents the proper diplomatic protocol.
I'm curious, what, exactly, Ensign and his confused cohorts would have the president do. Obama, arguably the most well-known leader on the planet, attended an international gathering with heads of state from around the hemisphere. Presidents and prime ministers -- some allies, some not -- wanted to at least greet Obama, and perhaps share a few words.I admit to not having followed this particular GOP tantrum very closely, but the very same question immediately occurred to me. I mean, it's not as if Obama arranged a private meeting between himself and Hugo Chavez. He merely attended a summit to which every head of state in the Americas was invited. And while he was there, Hugo Chavez approached him with his hand outstretched. A handshake ensued (scandalous!)
Ensign seems to think the ridiculous attacks this week should teach Obama a lesson, and the president should be "much more careful in the future." But what does that mean? The next time the leader of the free world is at an international gathering, he should hide in the bathroom so he doesn't have to shake hands with third-rate bad guys from South America?
But the real question is this: how exactly would the Hypothetical Perfect Republican President ("HPRP") have handled this situation?
I can picture the encounter going one of several ways:
Scenario 1: Chavez approaches HPRP with hand outstretched. HPRP creates incredibly awkward scene by completely ignoring Chavez until he eventually goes away.
Scenario 2: Chavez approaches HPRP with hand outstretched. HPRP extends his own hand as if he's going to shake but then pulls it away at the last second and says "psyche!" He then high fives the president of Argentina.
Scenario 3: Chavez approaches HPRP with hand outstretched. HPRP takes Chavez' hand but then immediately flips him over his shoulder and body slams him to the ground.
Maybe the next time John Ensign or New Gingrich raises this issue, some enterprising reporter can follow up and clarify which of these scenarios represents the proper diplomatic protocol.
posted by A.L. at 9:18 AM
9 Comments:
You're missing the Republican's point, AL. The HPRP would be such a belligerent dick that no foreign leader would ever dream of approaching him for a handshake unless he/she absolutely had to.
It's classic Rovian jujitsu: use your opponent's strength against him. (In this case, turn Obama's global popularity into a liability -- if someone like Chavez wants a photo-op with Obama, then Obama must be doing something wrong.)
Ensign is usually wrong, but in this case he's dead on. SIKE!
I was listening to Newt prattle on about this while watching footage of Chavez approach Obama with his book. Obama just looked at him. Chavez held out the book and Obama took it. Then Chavez held out his hand and Obama shook it. Newt's voice-over had Obama groveling at Chavez's feet.
Was he just supposed to drop the book and shun the guy? Would the righties then be yelling "international incident!!" like they were when Michelle touched the Queen?
Here's where we go wrong: we listen to this bullsh*t and respond to it. The truth is Obama would have been loudly criticized no matter how he had behaved during that conference. The only consistent rightie philosophy in any of this is "anti Obama."
Hello: Um Hugo Chavez is not a dictator. Democratically elected guy that represents the interests of the people who have all but been wiped away, cultural genocide style.
And third world is just insulting. Are first world nations that attack countries and commit mass murder then? Like, European nations, US, Canada, Spain, France, China. You get what I'm saying.
I don't think you get it. One of the joys of being insufferably righteous about everything is spurning the evildoers. People who think like this go out of their way to find opportunities to shun people, just to demonstrate in public how morally superior they are. I'm sure Gingrich et al. would find it perfectly acceptable and indeed obligatory for Obama to give Chavez a cold stare and turn his back on him.
I'm thinking that Scenario 3 would be the ideal scenario for the right-wingers, but they'd prefer it not even come to that. They would prefer that HPRP would refuse to attend any summit which Chavez also attended, making a grand moral statement by threatening to boycott unless Chavez was dis-invited. If this failed, they would want HPRP to stay home and try another coup to overthrow the Chavez government.
If he had taken power illegally, he would be a tyrant, whether or not he was a dictator. Considering the power he wields, he is a dictator whether or not he is a tyrant.
the right wingers are exhausting. remember the way they acted with clinton? over 1000 subpeonas issued over such frivolous issues as to wether or not the whitehouse christmas cards were politically driven. under the bush administration the oversight commitee dropped the word 'oversight' from its name. if i believed in hell these fuckers would belong there.
Tom said:
"You're missing the Republican's point, AL. The HPRP would be such a belligerent dick that no foreign leader would ever dream of approaching him for a handshake unless he/she absolutely had to."
That's absolutely right. Speaking of, remember Bush being virtually ignored by all and sundry (Merkel, Brown, et al) at his last G20 meeting? You could tell they too were glad to finally get the fuck rid of this guy.
I guess the Republicans would rather see a President who's hated by most of the world, because apparently this makes America look tough or something. Mentality of a 12-year old, seriously.
Scenario 2 made me lol, though of course an HPRP would be high-fiving Stephen Harper, not an unworthy Catholic latino.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home