Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Obama the "First Pacific President" -- Krauthammer

Charles Krauthammer offers his reaction to Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor and Obama's declaration that he is the "first Pacific president."

Transcript

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Well that was definitely a world class bow in Tokyo.... I've looked at pictures of other presidents, vice presidents, and others and they haven't gone halfway to the emperor's toes on the bow. I've seen pictures of MacArthur with Hirohito. He never bowed, and MacArthur wasn't even the president, in fact, although at times he thought he was.

There was a second incident here which was I thought interesting -- when the president declared himself the 'first Pacific president.' That's because, presumably, he grew up and spent some of his childhood in Hawaii and in Indonesia, and his mom took him on a visit to Japan, although all he remembers of that, as he says, was the ice cream.

The first Pacific president? Well, Teddy Roosevelt, he built the Panama Canal in order to make the United States a Pacific power, and he did.

Howard Taft, his successor, was the governor of the Philippines. And John Kennedy and George Bush Sr. were in the Pacific theater in the second World War, and, in fact, spent sometime in the Pacific ocean itself -- Bush after having been shot down from his airplane, and Kennedy after having his ship cut in half by a Japanese patrol boat. So, these people actually spent time in the Pacific. But in Obama's mind, it doesn't any way match the experience of the baby Jesus, excuse me, the baby Obama growing up on some Pacific island.

The narcissism of the man is rather unbounded.

...

But you see, everything in Obama's life makes him world historical.

Krauthammer really rips Obama.

Spot-on.


Video.

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