No War; No Oil; No America

The phrase, “politics stops at the water’s edge” is a now famous adage accredited to a number of American politicians, most notably (perhaps) to Arthur Vandenberg, a respected Republican senator from Michigan back in the 1940’s. It recognizes that the efficacy of the president should not be diluted by partisan parochial debate when it comes to foreign affairs or when our national security is challenged as during war. All this, of course, is assuming that the president has our best interests in mind.

Americans have been largely content to leave the execution of foreign policy to the ‘experts‘ - this, with the understanding that there is so much going on out there, much of it unfathomable to the average amateur weekend warrior; and some of it, no doubt, more than we’d feel comfortable in knowing. After 9/11, then President Bush told us to expect many changes; that some of these would affect us directly while others would pass beneath the radar, implying that the government was working on numerous levels to protect us. The proof was in the pudding: There were no further attacks on Americans, on American soil during the Bush presidency.

As the political climate within our own country reached the boiling point, the old adage was literally trampled underfoot. Portions of Bush’s clandestine policies overseas were deliberately leaked and hotly debated in Congress and out on Main Street. It was all done in a blatant effort by the Left to unseat Republicans. As such, military strategies became less and less effective. It is interesting to note that the WikiLeaks appear to deal with documents primarily from the Bush era, thereby (possibly) setting the stage for ‘crimes against humanity’ litigation and state-run show trials.

Obama is touched by WikiLeaks only insofar as he is seen as continuing Bush’s policies. In reality, though, he is simply letting the momentum of what Bush’s team started and maintained run down. It’s no secret that Obama doesn’t like war and means to end any possibility of it within his lifetime. It’s no secret that he views America as the one impediment to world peace that he himself can control.

Obama did not do too much to stop the WikiLeak document dump. In fact, unlike in the Pentagon Papers case, the University of East Anglia email revelations among other high profile surprise disclosures, there was plenty of warning this time around. It was almost as if Julian Assange was waiting for permission to leak his stuff. Outright permission never came, but neither did injunction.

Now we are told the president is wringing his hands about the whole thing, Don’t you believe it for a moment! Just like the oil spill, for him this was a welcome event. Let’s not kid ourselves; we know only too well where this man stands: no war; no oil; and, ultimately, no America.