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FRIDAY HOT READ: WHO WAS HU?By Charlie SykesThe Washington Post's Dana Milbank was struck by how our "transparent" president spread American values in China. Listening to President Obama and his Chinese counterpart this week, it was hard to tell who was Hu. One is the leader of a great democracy. The other is the head of a repressive regime. But as the two men faced reporters in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Obama deferred to the wishes of President Hu Jintao: They would not take questions. In lieu of this rite of freedom, the two leaders exchanged platitudes. ... It was, to put it charitably, a low-key way of spreading American values. A decade earlier, in that very same hall, President Bill Clinton criticized China's Tiananmen Square crackdown during a news conference with then-President Jiang Zemin. President George W. Bush, no fan of the media, made Hu squirm at the White House three years ago when he insisted that they take questions from U.S. and Chinese journalists. Obama, by contrast, didn't hold a news conference in China. ** Bonus read: What did The One actually accomplish on his Asian junket besides bowing to the Japanese emperor? Fred Barnes says, bupkus.
Has a president ever been less successful on a trip overseas than President Obama has on his eight-day excursion to Asia? I've been covering presidents since Gerald Ford and I can't think of one. Obama struck out on his entire agenda in China and he acquiesced as the Chinese subjected him to the humiliation of a choreographed town hall meeting with student members of the Young Communist League. And he suffered through a 30-minute news conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao in which no questions from the media were allowed. Presidents normally come away on visits to foreign countries with "deliverables"--that is, tangible signs of progress like a treaty signing. All Obama got was a list of things the United States and China would do in the future. There's a name for this: diplomatic boilerplate.
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Saturday, Nov 21 at 6:13 PM CK wrote ...
President Obama is not ready for prime time. Does he really think the Chinese want to share power with us? No, they are buying time so that they can build their military up to our level (if not beyond) and also build an economy larger than ours. This will give them immense leverage worldwide. President Obama meanwhile spends money like a drunken sailor. I thought W was bad at increasing our debt. President Obama has it down to a science. Is it 2012 yet?
32478571 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 10:41 PM Well wrote ...
First, Obama shouldn't have put us in so much debt to China with the Porkulus Bill, and all the other bailouts. However, Obama could have warned them that if their support of North Korea, lack of human rights, lack of religious freedom, lack of condemnation of Iran in UN (today), etc. doesn't change, we could renege on our debts (I know- Hell to pay for both countries). Obama could've at least read the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence to them - they might have laughed, not us
32450991 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 4:58 PM KT to Shelly wrote ...
Given his other dumb gift choices to foreign leaders this year, the answer is probably "yes."
32439919 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 2:55 PM Elmer Fudd wrote ...
Hu's on first.
32433144 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 12:34 PM Shelly wrote ...
Is it true that Obama gave him a box of Minute Rice as a gift?
32423896 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 11:57 AM Doug wrote ...
I for one, welcome our new Chinese overlords.
32421176 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 10:50 AM ljb wrote ...
When he ran, they thought he was sooo much better than Bush."Bush was bumbling speaker". Obama was so charming and Bush was a dud.Looks like we can be shamed by the Charmer who only excels if he reads from a teleprompter. DID you know this when you voted? He can't answer a simple question and make sense.Bush never pandered to them.
32416249 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 10:47 AM Bjorn Yesterday wrote ...
Would you want to be in the country as its falling apart if you didn’t have to? As the Chinese say “Man who bows leaves gaping hole exposed in his agenda”.
32415984 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 8:11 AM ijeff wrote ...
Have we ever had a president so ignorant of history? If he merely studied Ronald Reagan he'd know better. I presume he prefers the liberal caricature of Reagan that has been so thoroughly discredited by reality.
32405541 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 7:45 AM John Gault wrote ...
We elected a man who does not hold to the same basic freedoms as most Americans do. He is an elitist who would rather not be among the unwashed. He feels more comfortable with people who thinks like he does.
32404321 Flag for moderationFriday, Nov 20 at 7:02 AM Whitefish Bay Mike wrote ...
This is what happens when you elect a man who's never had to live in the real world on his own, without some person or organization protecting him from the blows of chance. He thinks it's all just debating team gamesmanship, and in the end, you get an A just for showing up and being a good sport, i.e. bowing to everyone.
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