Eugene Robinson: Sometimes, a President Must Slap Back

[babylonsister]

Sometimes, a President Must Slap Back
Eugene Robinson


WASHINGTON -- It's hard to argue with the results thus far from President Obama's "no drama" approach to campaigning and governing, but I think he should learn to chew a little scenery when the occasion demands. Theatricality is one of the weapons in any leader's arsenal, and a well-timed glower or growl can have more impact than a sheaf of position papers.

Obama's critics are upset that at the recent Summit of the Americas, held in Trinidad and Tobago, he treated his fellow leaders from around the hemisphere as peers. Obama's collegial attitude was, indeed, a break from tradition -- and was long overdue. Nothing would have been gained by barking orders at our neighbors and reinforcing the old image of insufferable yanqui arrogance.

There were a couple of moments at the summit, however, when Obama would have been right to throw off a little heat.

One was his encounter with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose public persona is the polar opposite of Obama's. Chavez is all theater, all the time. He made the most of his introduction to the new American leader, enfolding him in an all-smiles handshake and presenting him with a book that harshly indicts the long, painful history of U.S. intervention in Latin America.

Any idea that Chavez is some sort of threat to the United States is absurd. It's hard to see his fiery anti-American rhetoric as anything more than performance art, given that he has been scrupulously careful to avoid even the slightest disruption of the U.S.-Venezuela economic relationship. Venezuela owns Citgo, among other concerns, and is a reliable supplier of oil to the thirsty U.S. market.

It should also be noted that Chavez has acquired his extraordinary executive powers -- he obviously wants to be president-for-life -- through the ballot box. Americans may not like him, but Venezuelans do -- a majority of them, at least. However, it's impossible to overlook his anti-democratic methods of silencing his critics and neutralizing any potential opposition. Even though he uses Venezuela's oil to bolster the Castro regime in Cuba, Chavez is hardly a by-the-book socialist. He's more of an old-style Latin American strongman, a caudillo, and that's no model for the 21st century.

more...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/21/when_slapped_slap_back_96083.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. I completely agree with this column. And the same goes for dealing with R's in Congress. nt

[stray cat]

2. I agree about the sometimes - but I didn't think Chavas's statement was worthy enough for a response

[babylonsister]

3. I agree with you about dealing with Chavez in this instance, and so

does the president...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8357955&mesg_id=8357955

Venezuela is a country whose defense budget is probably 1/600th of the United States’. They own Citgo. It’s unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States. I don’t think anybody can find any evidence that that would do so. Even within this imaginative crowd, I think you would be hard-pressed to paint a scenario in which U.S. interests would be damaged as a consequence of us having a more constructive relationship with Venezuela.

[ClarkUSA]

4. People are forgetting that Pres. Obama DID "slap" back when he went off his scripted speech...

.... and spoke extemporaneously about how Latin American countries need to stop blaming everything that goes wrong on the
United States. I believe this was a general response to Ortega's 50 minute polemic. When's the last time ANY popular American
president said that at the Summit of the Americas?

[NYC_SKP]

6. Right you are. AND, all Bush-Cheney ever did was slap, it was a slap fest.

How refreshing to have an open, amicable, and self-restrained president.

[ClarkUSA]

9. I'm tired of journalists like Robinson high-five GOP memes instead of doing their research.

How refreshing to have an open, amicable, and self-restrained president.

Amen. I'm tired of cowboys. Robinson's wanting "theatricality" from Pres. Obama -- as he said today on Morning Joe, where he and
Joe fell over each other in mutual admiration -- is misguided. I've never been a huge fan of his and now you can see why.

[NYC_SKP]

12. Precisely, it's all Theater.

And nobody, not even Rachel Maddow, is immune from the pressure to be theatrical.

Too bad it's about such serious matters as affect basic human rights and the course of humanity.

:patriot:

[ClarkUSA]

14. They're called media whores for good reason.

Too bad it's about such serious matters as affect basic human rights and the course of humanity.

Media whores want a non-stop Obama reality show to feed their ratings and petty controversies while ordinary folks like
us are sympatico with No Drama Obama's internal philosophy. Barack got it right when he pegged journalists as "the
imaginative crowd". I'm sure Team O will ignore Robinson's handwringing and stage advice.

[babylonsister]

19. High-five GOP memes? I wish there were more journalists like Robinson. nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. This trash could have been written by any RW hack.

Robinson really dropped the ball with his one.

[jewishlibrl]

5. Chavez was friendly towards Obama. Why the need to "slap back"?

Eugene makes it sound as if Chavez was confrontational.

Yes, Robinson won a Pulitzer. But then, so did Maureen Dowd.

[Mike Daniels]

11. It's in response to the "gift" of a book

"Chavez's gift of the book was meant to affront, not to enlighten, and I would have advised Obama to reciprocate in kind."

[jewishlibrl]

7. NYT confirms that Harman asked them to kill wiretap story right before 2004 elections

Remember the New York Times' executive director denying that Jane Harman had spoken to him about killing the warrantless wiretaps story? He left a key fact out, which he clarifies today, via Greg Sargent:

Congresswoman Harman spoke to Washington Bureau Chief Phil Taubman in late October or early November, 2004, apparently at the request of General Hayden. She urged that The Times not publish the story. She did not speak to me, and I dont remember her being a significant factor in my decision.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/political-media/dem-rep-harman-did-urge-times-not-to-publish-wiretapping-expose/

[ProSense]

8. NYT: "no evidence that Ms. Harman had intervened in the case. "

David Szady, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s former top counterintelligence official who ran the investigation of Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman, said in an interview Monday that he was confident Ms. Harman had never intervened. “In all my dealings with her, she was always professional and never tried to intervene or get in the way of any investigation,” Mr. Szady said.

The officials who were familiar with the transcripts, speaking on condition of anonymity because the issue involved intelligence matters, also said they knew of no evidence that Ms. Harman had intervened in the case.

One of the officials said he was familiar with the transcript of “at least one phone call” in which Ms. Harman discussed weighing in with the department on the investigation of the Aipac officials and her possible chairwomanship of the Intelligence Committee. (She did not get the post.) He identified the California donor as Mr. Saban, a vocal supporter of Israel who turned the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers into a global franchise.

link

[jewishlibrl]

10. I posted in the wrong thread

I was going to post the above story in a Harman related thread but got it mixed up. Just disregard.

[AtomicKitten]

13. There's a new video out that shows a tense exchange between Obama and Chavez.

I expect this to be buried by the MSM because it doesn't fit into the "Obama hearts terrorists" theme.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/20/new-obama-chavez-video-em_n_189232.html

[ClarkUSA]

15. MSNBC has been playing the clip repeatedly but it doesn't change their "smiled too widely" criticism

Journalistic cognitive dissonance at its best: Robinson watched the clip while he was on Morning Joe but all he wanted to hawk
was his latest column's Republican-lite meme and bask in the glow of Joe Scumbucket's gushing praise for his Pulitzer.

[AtomicKitten]

16. President Obama has filled a vacuum.

He's getting gratuitous bashing from all quarters. It's an official national pastime doncha know?

:hi:

[ClarkUSA]

18. Yeah, he's filled the vacuum that exists between the ears of his critics.

His critics are not used to substance trumping style but the majority of Americans recognize the difference and are handing
Pres. Obama consistently high marks in every single poll.

:bluebox: Robinson on MSNBC: "If Pres. Obama has been more theatrical, I think he'd have done a better job at the atmospherics."
My eyes can't roll back that far to adequately express the idiocy of Robinson's remark.

Nice to see ya, too. :hi:

[Median Democrat]

17. Honestly, I Think President Obama's Dismissal Of Venezuela As A Military Threat...

Was a much more honest, and effective smackdown, then BushCo's overheated rhetoric about Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez may engage in fiery tirades against the U.S., but in the end, we still buy oil from him, so what purpose is served by trying to portray him as some threat to national security. Indeed, overheated rhetoric just helps him in Venezuela.

[yellowcanine]

20. Why do people keep wanting to change the way Obama works? If it ain't broke.....

DON'T FIX IT!

Obama was extremely effective with his "no drama" style during the campaign. Everyone kept wanting him to do this or that to deal with Hillary Clinton and then John McCain. Guess what, his style proved to be the best way to do things in the long run. Now he is President and again, his style is working but people still keep trying to change how he operates. Let Obama be Obama!