American Decline Not Fault of Obama: de Volkskrant, The Netherlands
Aug 17th, 2009 | 3 responses
Is there some benefit for President Obama to inheriting from George W. Bush the governance of a weakened nation? According to the Thomas von der Dunk of Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, this has given Obama the opportunity to slaughter some sacred cows that had to go:
“This is the interesting paradox: the fact that America is in visibly worse shape than before forces Obama to have the courage to take strong measures, not least on the domestic front where a number of sacred cows are dying, from health insurance and energy to the economic path in general. And on the foreign front, there’s simply no political room left for shortsighted lobbyists representing factions of the American electorate that manifest pro-Israel or anti-Cuba fetishism.”
By Thomas von der Dunk
Translated By Meta Mertens
August 12, 2009
The Netherlands – de Volkskrant – Original Article (Dutch)
If during his first six months in office Obama’s foreign policies differ markedly from his predecessor, it’s due to the inescapable realization that America’s international position has weakened.
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3 Responses to “American Decline Not Fault of Obama: de Volkskrant, The Netherlands”
Yes, in the myopia of a Dutch liberal such would be the world view.
Read this article to appreciate Mr. vonder's skew-point a little better – http://freedutchman.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/us…
…of note is the line “…von der Dunk, needless to say, is a rather talentless, frustrated crank.”
When it comes to sacred cows in the late great US of A, I'd say that not nearly enough are dying, and they aren't dying fast enough. The apologists for the status quo don't care about this because they either A.) have theirs (and that's good enough by god), or B.) don't understand (perhaps can't understand) the realities of the 21st century. Other generations met the challenges of their day, but this one seems particularly talented at heel dragging and looking the other way.
JSpencer – which sacred cow do you want to die faster? You say you'll change the constitution / Well you know / We all want to change your head / You tell me it's the institution / Well you know / You better free your mind instead.