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A Better Reset
Remember Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s infamous “Reset Button” photo-op with her Russian counterpart? It’s probably the most laughably inept and self-aggrandizing event in recent American foreign policy. It’s less laughable now — unless you’re Sergey Lavrov, who’s still in office and has outlasted three of his American counterparts — but it was pretty good back then and may yet save us from a second Clinton Administration.
America’s reputation was in bad shape when President Obama assumed office. He and Clinton did everything in their power to exaggerate and contribute to that perception and present themselves as the harbingers of a new day. And the world basically seemed to hold itself together for the first five years of his presidency. Sure, there was that bit of unpleasantness in Iran; true, the Arab Spring veered off in ugly directions; conceded, the “red line” in Syria was a mistake; and yes, our an ambassador was murdered, but that was just background noise to the general level of wonderfulness, right? After all, Osama bin Laden was dead and General Motors was alive.
Then, this summer happened. Vladimir Putin decided to call NATO’s bluff about protecting Ukrainian sovereignty and nabbed the Crimean Peninsula; at nearly the same time, the Syrian Civil War spilled into Iraq, allowing ISIS to take over a third of a country that Obama said was no longer worthy of our attention. And in just the last 24 hours, Putin has pushed further into Ukraine and ISIS has beheaded a second American journalist. Obama’s decried both as unacceptable — and will likely make some token response — but will end up accepting them both nonetheless. However bad we might have looked in 2009, we’re going to look even worse in 2017.
What can the next American president do to actually start setting things to right? I don’t envy the task. The world’s a complicated and wicked enough place as it is. Putting our reputation back together after inheriting both the Bush and (especially) the Obama legacies is a lot to ask.
Here are two traits I’d like to see in a candidate:
- Make promises — and things that sound like promises — very sparingly and only over things for which you exert some degree of control. Don’t tell us that everyone wants to be free, or set red lines without bothering to ask Congress. And listen to Scotty’s advice.
- Pay attention to and reward our allies. As has been remarked on for years, Obama’s regular neglect and occasional disdain for our allies — particularly, the British, Canadians, and Israelis — has been one of his worst legacies. Instead, show the world that there are tangible benefits to being America’s friend. If an earthquake hits a wide region, we should focus our efforts on those who helped us first.
What else should our next president keep in mind?
Image Credit: Wikicommons.
I don’t know that your #2 point is even possible post-Obama. The historic friendships we’ve maintained and honored for decades (even centuries) have been made subject to political whims. Those alliances were actively respected regardless of the political affiliation or ideology of the incumbent, but no longer. A precedent has been set. Our word is no longer a solid foundation on which to stand and conduct business. It will take more than a change of occupants in the WH to rebuild that reputation and earn back the trust of our allies. In two terms Obama has destroyed what it took the entire lifetime of our nation to build.
Don’t behave like a pretentious, vulgar jackwagon.
Allies might trust a new, good president, but will they every be able to trust the American citizens again? Would they fear we’d vote for another Obama?
That’s probably the better question. A president is who he (or she) is. It’s the people that put them into office.
Mitt had it right. Half the country pays no net income taxes. Of the half that do, the top 50% of income earners pay 97% of all income taxes collected. So you essentially have a relatively small chunk of the population supporting the vast majority of spending – and the vast majority of spending in the budget is entitlements.
Which means people want things easy and given to them. That’s not a hallmark of a strong, robust, and resolute people. And it’s become clear to the world and those paying attention at home that the American people are no longer to be feared as enemies, or trusted as friends.