The President's 100th day in office was marked by a press conference and lots of news stories rehashing the good and bad (it was mostly reported as good, in case you were tuned out) of his administration. And, once again, many outlets like CNN focused much of their spotlight on how Obama ‘apologized’ around the world for America's poor behavior over the last eight years.
The amusing slant to this story (for me at least) is how we should all be shocked that an American president would do this. The rhetoric surrounding his supposed contrition is equally as entertaining.
Let's see. A liberal, democratic president openly exclaims to the world that the former, right wing, Republican administration did everything wrong. And, these past government leaders should be ashamed of themselves. Hmm... wow, that has to be a first. What a fantastic story!
OK, OK. I know. Obama didn't exactly use those words. And, in fact, he never actually ‘apologized’ (contrary to what CNN reported, which I'll get to soon.) But, hopefully my point is starting to resonate now...
Whether you agree with their military/non-diplomatic policies or not, it's hard to argue against one fact. Eight years of war under George Bush and Dick Cheney has greatly strained US relations across the globe. Of course, any new president from the opposing party (with 180-degree different views) is going to come into office trying to massage those relationships back to health. And, the most obvious way to do this is to blame those from the ‘enemy’ party that held office right before him. As my partner likes to say, Obama's international tour to do just that was a ‘no brainer.’
No surprise, the sensationalistic way our media labeled this trip abroad (‘the Apology Tour’), is typical and represents bad form as well. Even last night when Wolf Blitzer interviewed Defense Secretary Gates, the interview was pre-promoted for an hour as Gates commented on ‘Obama apologizes to the world.’ Yet, the secretary quickly tried to correct these mistruths by saying that the President hasn't been apologizing at all. But, instead he's building relationships by discussing how this administration will work with foreign leaders in a different manner.
Is it news that Obama continues to travel from country to country repairing bonds with their leaders? Sure. The media should cover and report this to us because he is the President and it is a change of strategy. But, is the message coming from him so surprising? Absolutely not. In reviewing history, Jimmy Carter lambasted Nixon/Ford and eight years of Republican rule to the international media when he came into office. And, his predecessor Ronald Reagan, did the same and beat up on Carter's diplomatic weaknesses as well.
Ladies and gentleman of the media, it's time to move on.
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