No columnist rivals Matthew Continetti’s ability to contrast so starkly the president’s exalted self-image with his actual smallness on the world stage. This morning’s installment of his weekly Free Beacon column is perhaps the best example yet. While President Obama announces his arrival at coffee shops and diners by declaring “the bear is loose!” the Russian bear is marking its territory much more aggressively:
One can trace a line from any global hotspot to Russia and its authoritarian ruler. Iran? Russia has assisted its nuclear program for decades. Syria? Russia is Bashar Assad’s arms dealer. Iraq? Russia is sending men and materiel to the central government. Afghanistan? Putin muscled nearby Kyrgyzstan into closing our air base there, crucial for transport, resupply, and reconnaissance in the war against the Taliban. The contretemps between the United States and Germany is the result of Edward Snowden’s breach of national security. Where is Snowden? In Russia, where he has just asked to have his visa renewed. I wonder if Vladimir Putin will say yes.
Then there is Ukraine …
Then there is Ukraine …
“Obama is not the bear,” Continetti notes. “He is the cub: aimless, naïve, self-interested, self-indulgent, irresponsible, irresolute. The bear is in Moscow.”
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