Obama offers a formula for grownup behavior in and by the US. Whether this will deal effectively with Muslim and Republican extremists remains an open question.[icopyright one button toolbar]

Obama made clear that he is only going to involve America more deeply in places like the Middle East to the extent that the different communities there agree to an inclusive politics of no victor/no vanquished. The United States is not going to be the air force of Iraqi Shiites or any other faction. …

…At the end of the day, the president mused, the biggest threat to America — the only force that can really weaken us — is us. We have so many things going for us right now as a country — from new energy resources to innovation to a growing economy — but, he said, we will never realize our full potential unless our two parties adopt the same outlook that we’re asking of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds or Israelis and Palestinians: No victor, no vanquished and work together. …ThomasFriedman,NYT

The me-firsties around the world — from tea party to Taliban to ISIS — will have to face a more effective America if Obama manages to pull this off. You can bet he’ll have to deal with plenty of resistance within our own government. “Grown up” is not a Republican goal.

Cross-posted from Praire Weather