Obama hits the skids
Only two weeks into his presidency, Barack Obama has managed to hit every brick wall in sight. In spite of reportedly unprecedented cooperation from the outgoing Bush team, and promises of a smooth transition, the Obama team still hasn’t staffed up its foreign policy shop. It’s managed to:
Anger General Anthony Zinni to the point of going on record;
Drop charges against the mastermind of the U.S.S. Cole bombing (which could be the right thing to do, but could probably also have been handled better, or timed more fortuitously);and
(thankfully) lose a substantial amount of public support for the stimulus package, which he’s now justifying in terms that sound a little south of hope and change and a little more like the old politics of fearmongering (“We have to remember that we’re here to work for them, and if we drag our feet and fail to act, this crisis could turn into a catastrophe. We’ll continue to get devastating job reports like today’s, month after month, year after year…”).
Meanwhile, beyond our borders,
Russia appears to have outbid us for basing rights to Manas in Kyrgyzstan, a critical resupply point for the war in Afghanistan;
and Iran has demonstrated new missile abilities by launching its first satellite (which prime minister Ahmadinejad says is intended to spread “monotheism, peace and justice.”).
Yep, the Onion had it right.