printHe was elected based on his ability to sweetly say NOTHING MUCH AT ALL. True to character, Obama demonstrated, in the words of Ralph Nader, his prowess at “weak, waffling, wavering, and ambiguous” during his first address to the the UN.
Obama spoke for “the people of the world”: “they want change,” he declared. “Change We Can Believe In,” naturally. He warned his fellow con men and women against being “on the wrong side of history.” He heralded a “new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect”; warned against old habits; building walls instead of breaking them down; not being interconnected; hip to climate change and the imperative of economic justice. Blah, blah, blah.
Toughness he demonstrated by shaking a fleeting fist at North Korea and Iran and denouncing anti-Americanism (where did that come from?).
As expected, Barack The Banal waffled about the World As One. And he felt sufficiently at home to use a dread expression to described the “world order” America was demanding.
I almost forgot: Gadhafi clapped. Fidel Castro approved.
I am reminded that Ronald Reagan said that the reason that he was a “Great Communicator” was because the (conservative/libertarian) IDEAS he was communicating were great. [Now, admittedly, Reagan did only a LITTLE positive on domestic policy – like standing up to the Air Traffic Controllers].
Obama is an ambitious schmoozer who can give a good teleprompter delivery of his nuanced intellectual-Twinkie speeches to gaping admirers who love that he (a) likes them, (b) is not Dubya, and (c) is non-white. However, I think that the charms are wearing thin on those who not charter members of the Messianic Cult Obama Worship Society.
I’ve stopped paying attention to all the vapid fluff. Yair Shamir got it right. It’s Gerald Ford without the duhhh … hummm … eerrrr.