They Call Him Carmelo Yellow

AITOOW can't believe the jams the rock star president gets himself into? I guess it was an apt moniker because he seems about as bright as one. I keep waiting for someone to lampoon John McEnroe and say "You can not beat Syria". Did this guy really think that anyone feared his wrath? Believed a parsing vacillator would spend any of his own political capital on charity? That's the game his mentors perfected. Like he would be drawn in by that kind of bullying. Now it's a War of the Roses chess match between he and the Republicans over every little thing. It's about who can use any issue to embarrass the other side. And the funny part is like any contentious break up, nobody on the outside particularly cares who wins. The whole affair is foul and everyone associated with it seems petty and vulgar. It was stupid for a black president to threaten an arab. They perceive the black as illegitimate. It was twice as bad not to carry through. Any thing less than immediate action in the face of an instigation is perceived as weakness. So now he is seen (probably always was) as a cowardly monkey by the arabs. A two time loser. A thoughtful, measured response will not change that perception. And that is the problem. It's not about mission creep or exit strategies or definable goals. It's about power politics. The unruly kids in the back of class look at the US (add in England) as a substitute teacher again. All the knuckle rapping George Bush administered has gone to waste. We are again Carter weak, Clinton weak in their eyes. The real trouble has just begun.