Good Editorial about US's Diminshing role as world leader

[ehidle]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...world-no-more/

Israel is looking like the new leader of the Free World. The previous leader, the United States, resigned this role last week at the United Nations to take the position of global community organizer. This was made plain by President Obama in his speech, titled "Responsibility for Our Common Future," in which he heralded "a new chapter of international cooperation." By contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a blunt and forceful call to action in the central challenge facing free people today. This is the struggle of "civilization against barbarism" being fought by "those who sanctify life against those who glorify death."

Mr. Obama's address was the predictable mix of criticism of the past policies of the United States, self-praise for correcting said policies and vague calls to united action on matters of collective interest. It sought to ingratiate rather than offend. But Mr. Netanyahu chastised the United Nations for its "systematic assault on the truth." He spoke truths that Mr. Obama would never whisper regarding the regime in Iran, which is "fueled by an extreme fundamentalism" and an "unforgiving creed." Mr. Netanyahu rebuked those members who countenanced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's diatribe before the same world body, rightly calling it a "disgrace."

Mr. Netanyahu repeatedly paid tribute to the blessings of liberty and "the allure of freedom." He marveled at the technological advances freedom made possible. He asked if the international community would support the Iranian people "as they bravely stand up for freedom." He envisioned a future of Israel and Palestine, "two free peoples living in peace, living in prosperity, living in dignity." Mr. Obama, meanwhile, touted the imperative of responding to global climate change and mentioned as an afterthought that democracy should not be an afterthought.

Israel stands out because it understands the central challenge faced by the civilized world and by its willingness to take action. Israel is readying to stem the tide of barbarism and stand up to the threat of a nuclear Iran. In return, it asks only for moral support. "If Israel is again asked to take more risk for peace," Mr. Netanyahu said, "we must know today that you will stand with us tomorrow." He challenged the countries of the world with a clear-cut test: "Will you stand with Israel? Or will you stand with the terrorists?"

Mr. Obama said in closing that "we call on all nations to join us in building the future that our people deserve." But people only deserve what they have earned. Mr. Netanyahu called on the civilized world to "confront this peril, secure our future, and, God willing, forge an enduring peace for generations to come." Sometimes the future doesn't come without a fight.

[Yellowfin]

Agreed. I for one am embarassed that our country has such a disgusting anti-patriot at its top office.

[PocketProtector]

Terrrorists?? In Oudini's world???

Oh that would be Beck, Hannity, Rush etc etc.

And friends of Oudini seem to be Ahmadinajad, Chavez, Castro, Kim, Farrakhan,etc etc etc.

Down the rabbit hole guys

[ehidle]

I think it's also much bigger than that. If you study European history, you'll see that one reason it was such an easy target for Germany's regime during the early 1900's was because Western Europe had become "enlightened."

Their culture had discovered the "miracle" of peace, and adopted the mantra that "war was bad, and we can talk our way out of anything." During the 1930, when smart people were fleeing Europe in droves for the US and destinations in South America (Brasil has a huge population of 1930's European refugees and their descendants), governments in Europe were on a rampage of appeasement, using diplomatic means to give Germany plenty of time to build up its military for the eventual invasions.

There are so many mirrors of this exact situation going on. The idiot in the White House is so convinced that he can just pal around with all of these third world dictators and convince them not to be bad guys. So, while these "leaders" secretly work to obtain WMDs, build their armies, make arms deals, and so on, they know they can fight us back with lies.

A "Leader" is someone who knows bullshit when he sees it and does something about it. In that respect, then no, we are far from being a world leader. A "Leader" doesn't just sit there and take bullshit from everyone else..

[1861]

Terrrorists?? In Oudini's world???

Oh that would be Beck, Hannity, Rush etc etc.

And friends of Oudini seem to be Ahmadinajad, Chavez, Castro, Kim, Farrakhan,etc etc etc.

Down the rabbit hole guys

Didn't Kadaffi call him our son .

[pyld]

Gist of the article: Obama bad for not supporting Israel in their desire to bomb Iran.

I blame Obama for a lot of shit. Staying out of a conflict like that in the middle east is not one of them.

[ChamberedRound]

Some will believe this to be a shortsighted view, but here's what I say regarding the diminishing US role as a "world leader":

GOOD.

We should have never placed ourselves in that role after WWII to begin with. Being a "world leader" often means getting involved in other nation's business, something that our Founding Fathers warned us about. The US rightly didn't get involved in WWII until US interests were affected. However, once the war was over, our government wrongly used its influence to implement the Marshall Plan, spend countless billions to be "proactive" against a communist threat which didn't directly affect us or our interests, and setup Europe to be dependent on the US for the next 60+ years. We forgave much of the WWII debt we were rightfully owed, we built bases in foreign lands, all the while forgetting (or neglecting) to take care of our own hearth and home. It's because of those decisions, in part, that the US is now spent out, becoming used up, with European leaders now telling us that they don't need us and our precious dollar anymore. Modern European society, economy, and their precious Euro were built on the backs of the US taxpayer, and there's not a shred of gratitude. Those that were saved by the good graces of the US (and those that did the saving) are mostly gone, and the generation in power now doesn't care nearly as much about what we did for them, because they didn't live through the atrocities from which they were saved.

Before it's too late, if it's not too late already, we have to end this. We have to start spending more time, money, and attention, at home. As I've said in other posts, the time of the Pax Americana is over.

As for Israel, well... it's easy to stand tall when another country is propping you up. I give them credit for standing on their principles; they have a right to exist just like any other people or culture. But let us not forget that Israel is the recipient of more US money and military technology than almost any other country in the world. Let's not be too critical of the US's stance on this issue with respect to the Israelis; if it weren't for us, the Israelis would still be LOOKING for a place to call home, much less using our money to defend that home.

[Morel42]

Well duh..

WW2 ended over 50 years ago.. The insanely huge advantage we had with the rest of the world in regards to industry and almsot everything else is about gone.. They've rebuilt.. lol

Being a world leader is expensive anyways.. Keep the big stick of course in case you need to reduce anyone to ashes of course, but other then that it's time for the Majority of the country to face up the reality that this isn't 1955 anymore..

If people of other countries want the benifits of our bases and military protection inside their borders, charge them for it.. lol

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Does this mean we can now stop policing the world?

[RoyJackson]

Obama is sounding more and more like that loser, Jimmy Carter...