The “Galaxy Quest” president

Why did the administration escalate a political mistake into a diplomatic crisis?

According to Secretary of State Clinton it helped move talks forward. A less kind way of putting it, would be that she boasted of putting PM Netanyahu in his place.

But Elder of Ziyon in an op-ed quality post makes a fascinating observation:

Obama believes that a president, the leader of the free world, must act strong. But the problem is he cannot act that way when he cannot predict how the other parties will react to his show of strength. As in the movie Galaxy Quest, he may be acting but the other side is dead serious, and in such circumstances he is over his head. Upsetting a billion people or another nuclear power is something to be avoided at all costs.

So he acts like a parody of a strong leader – against his friends. He knows they won’t start a war or a terror spree against American interests. He calculates that by acting tough with his friends, there is little downside while he builds up his street cred as a resolute but fair leader. He hopes that Iran and Syria (and Russia and China) will interpret his actions as a message for them, avoiding actually making decisions that could set a course from which the US cannot go back.

But what he cannot do is actually make any real foreign policy decisions. If he did, he would be burning a bridge and opening himself up to the chance that he is making a mistake. Worse yet, he would be revealing to the world that he doesn’t have a clue.

For an actor playing the role of President, changing the status quo is scary. Taking a real stand is frightening. Instead,the emphasis is to make it through your term without blowing up the world. You buy time and hope and pray for the best. You rely on your advisors to guide you and you hope they are not acting the way you are.

And you continue to act how you think a President would act, hoping that your charade is not exposed.

Now you could dismiss this as a pro-Israel activist mocking a politician he doesn’t agree with. That may be true. But what’s truly disturbing is that an unnamed administration official seems to have confirmed this!

President Obama made little progress with the Chinese during his visit to Beijing in November. When Obama visited Saudi Arabia in June to raise money for the Palestinians, he was given a polite but firm no.

When Clinton visited Brazil this month to try to win support for tough new sanctions on Iran, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim announced in a public appearance with her that his country simply would not go along.

One senior U.S. official acknowledged that the tough U.S. position is not just about Israel and the settlements issue, but about “sending a message more broadly about what we’re willing to put up with. . . . This couldn’t continue.”

Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator, said the policy has “clearly been informed by concerns about an image of vacillation and weakness.”

So something what would seem to be a parody mocking the President – that he’d diplomatically beat up on an ally in order to prove his seriousness to America’s enemies – has been confirmed by an administration official.

It would be funny if …

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.