By Peter Roff
usnews.com
As Mel Brooks once said, “It’s good to be the king.â€
It’s an idea that seems close to the heart of our current president who, both often and insufferably, seeks to remind everyone how smart he is and how most everyone else needs to get to work catching up. It’s an unattractive quality, something beyond the smugness one might more readily find among members of the Yale University faculty or attendees at a Hollywood dinner party. As a character trait for the leader of the free world, it is positively appalling.
It’s also very much on display as President Barack Obama attempts to win support for whatever is coming out of the protracted negotiations between the P5 +1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany) and Iran on the subject of the latter’s attempts to join the global nuclear club.
With much fanfare and at the 11th hour, the White House announced an agreement had been reached. This was perhaps overstating the case. What has apparently been agreed upon is some kind of framework for a deal, the details of which will be worked out later which, as most everyone knows, is where the devil lies.
Obama has been defending what the mainstream media persist in calling a deal and has been quick to give a rhetorical slap of the hand to anyone who challenges him on it. Particularly crude was his suggestion, made in an interview with government-funded NPR, that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – a critic of both the framework deal and the process that has produced it – needed to “bone up on foreign policy†a little bit before opening his mouth.
The suggestion reflects a naked arrogance on the president’s part. Recall that he knew little himself about foreign policy in 2008 when he threw his hat in the presidential ring. It was enough that if George W. Bush or John McCain were for it than he was against it. If Bush said “up,†Obama said “down.†If McCain said “right,†Obama, depending on the context, either said “left†or “wrong,†while his supporters, especially those who appeared on nightly television, cheered their agreement.
It can be argued that Walker and the other potential presidential prospects for 2016 know about as much now about foreign policy as Obama did then – which may have been the point the president was trying to make. That’s a charitable yet doubtful interpretation since he never seems for a moment to question his ability, his competence or just how much he knows, and how much the other guy doesn’t. In the faculty lounge or on the floor of the U.S. Senate this is not a fatal attribute. In the national security and foreign policy arena, however, it can be deadly. And in fact has proved to be – and not just to Americans. There are plenty of Iraqis, Syrians, Libyans, Egyptians, Yemenis and other denizens of the Middle East who would probably agree if they were still around and able to do so.
In the more than six years he has been president, Obama seems to have learned little despite intensive on-the-job training. His few actual initiatives have gone awry, and he has done little to restore what he claimed in campaign 2008 was America’s tattered reputation among the nations of the world.
[SEE: Editorial Cartoons on President Obama]
Saying as he did to NPR that no one who wants to be president should call into question the White House’s ability to enter into agreements with other countries, that it would “be a foolish approach to take, and, you know, perhaps Mr. Walker, after he's taken some time to bone up on foreign policy, will feel the same way†was neither tactful nor will it help him win Republican support on Capitol Hill for whatever deal may finally be worked out. Further, for him to suggest that anyone else needed to “bone up†on national security matters before offering a criticism is about as ludicrous as Donald Trump criticizing someone else’s hairstyle or Bill Clinton offering tips on making marriage work. When it comes to foreign policy, Obama is in no position to point fingers at anyone else’s inexperience until he takes concrete steps to do something about his own. And he’s running out of time on that front, so he better get moving.
Peter Roff is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report. Formerly a senior political writer for United Press International, he's now affiliated with several public policy organizations, including Let Freedom Ring and Frontiers of Freedom. His writing has appeared in National Review, Fox News' opinion section, The Daily Caller, Politico and elsewhere
