Didn't attempt to endure any of Obama's blather yesterday - it's just getting too depressing listening to these people speak utter nonsense dressed up as serious policy - did read some takes on where we stand now in this farce, what with Putin delivering what appears to be the coup de grâce to Obama's strategic incompetence by astutely treating Kerry's gaffe as an actual proposal - including this assault by Tobin at Commentary which sounds pretty much like what I would have wanted to say had I the stomach to listen to the noise.
The question becomes, what will be the fallout of all this awfulness? Anyone, friend or foe, who still harbored illusions concerning Obama's ability to lead the nation as the superpower it is, well those illusions are now dust - so where does that leave us? Certainly, Israel is not feeling too good right now - I think Bibi always understood what a weak leader Obama was, but possibly he still held out hope - no more, and now they must recalibrate their thinking on Iran and the Mideast as a whole - and needless to say Iran as well will be making appropriate adjustments. The other concern is an increasingly aggressive China - people in that theatre look to America to thwart a Chinese hegemony in the Pacific - they too must recalibrate thinking - and certainly Japan, which was already modifying its military posture, will do so now with more urgency I imagine. Taiwan? Boy - seems like a real stretch but if China had something in mind when it comes to Taiwan, wouldn't they at least have to consider moving on it now given that America is led by a president who makes Jimmy Carter look like a cunning and strategically gifted hawk?
And what about ol' Vlad? He knows that if it looks like he's 'bested' America and made Obama look like an amateurish fool that that buys him a lot of good will with Russians - so if he comes out of this thing looking like the 'wise hero', well, it's not like he's a man to rest on his laurels, not like he's a man without ambition - he'll be looking to capitalize on that windfall - and it's pretty much a guarantee his objective will not be a reset with Washington.
