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President Obama Didn't Impress Asia (he labeled himself "America's first Pacific president")
Wall Street Journal ^ | Nov. 22, 2009 | John Bolton

Posted on 11/22/2009 2:57:06 PM PST by La Enchiladita

Barack Obama's first visit to Asia since his inauguration was one of the most disappointing trips by any U.S. president to the region in decades, especially given media-generated expectations that "Obamamania" would make it yet another triumphal progression. It was a journey of startlingly few concrete accomplishments, demonstrable proof that neither personal popularity nor media deference really means much in the hard world of international affairs.

The contrast between Asia's reception for Obama and Europe's is significant. Although considered a global phenomenon, Obamamania's real center is Europe. There, Mr. Obama reigns as a "post-American" president, a multilateralist carbon copy of a European social democrat. Asians operate under no such illusions, notwithstanding the "Oba-Mao" T shirts briefly on sale in China. ...

What the president lacked in popular adulation, however, he more than made up for in self-adulation. In Asia, he labeled himself "America's first Pacific president," ignoring over a century of contrary evidence. The Pacific has been important to America since the Empress of China became the first trading ship from the newly independent country to reach the Far East in 1784. Theodore Roosevelt created a new Pacific country (Panama) and started construction on the Panama Canal to ensure that America's navy could move rapidly from its traditional Atlantic bases to meet Pacific challenges. William Howard Taft did not merely live on Pacific islands as a boy, like Obama, but actually governed several thousand of them as Governor-General of the Philippines in 1901-1903. Dwight Eisenhower served in Manila from 1935 to 1939, and five other presidents wore their country's uniform in the Pacific theater during World War II—two of whom, John F. Kennedy and George H.W. Bush, very nearly perished in the effort.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Japan; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: asia; asiantripfailure; bho44; bhoasia; bhochina; bhovisit; bolton; china; japan; johnbolton; obamamania; worldopinion
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To: kcvl

They “ get it” in China! Hope we do here before it is too late!!


41 posted on 11/22/2009 3:52:23 PM PST by pollywog ( It's Saturday ~~~ But SUNDAY'S A COMING'!!!!)
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To: colorado tanker

Multiculturalism/diversity/political correctness is a mental illness shared by all the elite. It is if we have inbread royality running the country. Obama is the best of the best pin heads.


42 posted on 11/22/2009 3:54:49 PM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: paulycy

“has no clue that he is way over his head”

As Levin pointed out, he really isn’t that smart. The ultimate empty suit....no substance, and everyone knows it except him, because he’s been fawned over so long by the sycophant Left. Truly an embarrassment.


43 posted on 11/22/2009 3:55:10 PM PST by madmominct
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To: kcvl

HA HA HA!!An outcome based pResident..


44 posted on 11/22/2009 3:55:26 PM PST by RadioCirca1970 (Victory or Death in the War on Terror)
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To: paulycy

I’d bet a shiny nickel that that’s *exactly* what the Emperor is thinking.


45 posted on 11/22/2009 3:59:14 PM PST by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: La Enchiladita
"America's first Pacific president"

moron

46 posted on 11/22/2009 4:01:19 PM PST by sten
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To: manc
They look for actions instead of just words.

Successful people are always warriors on some level. zer0 only fights shallow political thuggish battles and not real ones. The weakness is obvious to one and all, even his minions.

He thinks he can win without having to fight the battles the rest of the world has to but he is learning very quickly that he can't and worse that he is not equipped to achieve anything that isn't given to him or extorted from someone. He can't negotiate himself out of a paper bag much less play hardball with Hu, Putin, Achmedinejad, Kim, etc. etc. etc.

He can't even figure out how to travel abroad without humiliating himself.

He's a jackass.

47 posted on 11/22/2009 4:01:27 PM PST by paulycy (Demand Constitutionality.)
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To: DTogo

:0)


48 posted on 11/22/2009 4:03:54 PM PST by paulycy (Demand Constitutionality.)
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To: Deagle

“but where is the other 18% coming from?”

Some of it is probably a result of fudging the numbers.


49 posted on 11/22/2009 4:06:26 PM PST by GoDuke
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To: La Enchiladita

“...five other presidents wore their country’s uniform in the Pacific theater during World War II...”

Which reminds me. I am sure that others have pointed this out but I’ll repeat it: Obama is our first president who did not wear a military uniform since FDR. And FDR had a good reason to not wear one, he couldn’t walk on his own.

That speaks volumes about the man’s lack of character.


50 posted on 11/22/2009 4:11:54 PM PST by OldPossum
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To: paulycy

We need a picture of him “in way over his head.”


51 posted on 11/22/2009 4:12:14 PM PST by Right Wing Assault (The Obama magic is fading.)
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To: La Enchiladita

Just as I posted, I remembered: Clinton didn’t either. And that spoke volumes about his character.


52 posted on 11/22/2009 4:12:48 PM PST by OldPossum
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To: OldPossum

What branch of the military was Clinton in?


53 posted on 11/22/2009 4:14:40 PM PST by madison10 (Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.)
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To: La Enchiladita

Didn’t Impress??? Asian leaders are STILL LAUGHING, except for the Japanese Newspapers, who were too EMBARASSED for oZero to print the pictures of that “BOW”


54 posted on 11/22/2009 4:15:24 PM PST by gwilhelm56 (Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8 "Let his days be few; and let another take his office. ")
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To: Deagle
"Ok, don’t answer that - we all know that about 30% of the people are idiots - but where is the other 18% coming from?

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, PBS, NPR, NYT and most university faculties.

55 posted on 11/22/2009 4:19:27 PM PST by The Good Doctor (Democracy is the only system where you can vote for a tax that you can avoid the obligation to pay.)
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To: mreerm

More like BHO made a mockery and disrespect of Asia as a whole, like a misbehaving grade school kid on a school excursion.


56 posted on 11/22/2009 4:29:52 PM PST by myknowledge (F-22 Raptor: World's Largest Distributor of Sukhoi parts!)
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To: La Enchiladita

I think that must have been small ‘p’ pacific, president.


57 posted on 11/22/2009 4:33:54 PM PST by americanophile (Sarcasm: satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language.)
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To: paulycy

This is just unreal...though I still think it’s a cover up for his earlier spontaneous bow to the keeper of the holy sites of Mecca and Medina.


58 posted on 11/22/2009 4:36:17 PM PST by americanophile (Sarcasm: satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language.)
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To: kcvl

That’s an awesome tee! Love it!


59 posted on 11/22/2009 4:38:14 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (I don't have a 'Cousin Pookie'.)
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To: RushIsMyTeddyBear
My favorite Bolton line. Captures Obama in his incompetent essence.

What the president lacked in popular adulation, however, he more than made up for in self-adulation.

60 posted on 11/22/2009 4:51:58 PM PST by Robwin
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