Even Obama's Usual Defenders Have Trouble Finding Any Good in His Latest Sham Defense of Weak Foreign Policy

When you've lost the New York Times and the Washington Post you're really in trouble!

As I predicted on Tuesday Obama's big speech to defend his foreign policy simply revealed that he didn't have one. He and his faculty lounge advisers are just making it up as they go along and don't seem to have a clue what damage they are doing to the cause of world peace.

But it's one thing for Mike's America to say it. It's another thing for Obama's defenders in what's often called the "mainstream" news media to say it.

The New York Times

The New York Times Headline: “President Obama Misses A Chance On Foreign Affairs” (Editorial, “President Obama Misses A Chance On Foreign Affairs,” The New York Times, 5/28/14)

“This Was Far From Mr. Obama’s Big Moment.” (Editorial, “President Obama Misses A Chance On Foreign Affairs,” The New York Times, 5/28/14)

Obama’s Speech “Did Not Match The Hype, Was Largely Uninspiring, Lacked Strategic Sweep And Is Unlikely To Quiet His Detractors, On The Right Or The Left.” “President Obama and his aides heralded his commencement speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday as a big moment, when he would lay out his foreign policy vision for the remainder of his term and refute his critics. The address did not match the hype, was largely uninspiring, lacked strategic sweep and is unlikely to quiet his detractors, on the right or the left.” (Editorial, “President Obama Misses A Chance On Foreign Affairs,” The New York Times, 5/28/14)

Obama “Provided Little New Insight Into How He Plans To Lead In The Next Two Years.” “But he provided little new insight into how he plans to lead in the next two years, and many still doubt that he fully appreciates the leverage the United States has even in a changing world.” (Editorial, “President Obama Misses A Chance On Foreign Affairs,” The New York Times, 5/28/14)

• “Mr. Obama’s Comments On China And Russia Barely Touched On How He Plans To Manage Two Major Countries That Have Turned Increasingly Aggressive.”(Editorial, “President Obama Misses A Chance On Foreign Affairs,” The New York Times, 5/28/14)

The Washington Post

The Washington Post Headline: “At West Point, President Obama Binds America’s Hands On Foreign Affairs” (Editorial, “At West Point, President Obama Binds America’s Hands On Foreign Affairs,” The Washington Post, 5/28/14)

“President Obama Has Retrenched U.S. Global Engagement In A Way That Has Shaken The Confidence Of Many U.S. Allies And Encouraged Some Adversaries.” (Editorial, “At West Point, President Obama Binds America’s Hands On Foreign Affairs,” The Washington Post, 5/28/14)

• “This Binding Of U.S. Power Places Mr. Obama At Odds With Every U.S. President Since World War II.” (Editorial, “At West Point, President Obama Binds America’s Hands On Foreign Affairs,” The Washington Post, 5/28/14)

“As He Has So Often In His Political Career, Mr. Obama Has Elected To Respond To The Critical Consensus Not By Adjusting Policy But Rather By Delivering A Big Speech.”(Editorial, “At West Point, President Obama Binds America’s Hands On Foreign Affairs,” The Washington Post, 5/28/14)

• Obama Simply “Marshaled A Virtual Corps Of Straw Men.” “In his address Wednesday to the graduating cadets at West Point , Mr. Obama marshaled a virtual corps of straw men, dismissing those who ‘say that every problem has a military solution,’ who ‘think military intervention is the only way for America to avoid looking weak,’ who favor putting ‘American troops into the middle of [Syria’s] increasingly sectarian civil war,’ who propose ‘invading every country that harbors terrorist networks’ and who think that ‘working through international institutions . . . or respecting international law is a sign of weakness.’” (Editorial, “At West Point, President Obama Binds America’s Hands On Foreign Affairs,”The Washington Post, 5/28/14)

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal: There Were Several Things Obama Left Out Of His Foreign Policy Speech. “But as we listened to the President chart his course between the false-choice alternatives of ‘American isolationism’ and ‘invading every country that harbors terrorist networks,’ we got to thinking of everything that wasn’t in his speech.” (Editorial, “Obama At West Point,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/14)

• There Was “No Mention” Of The Russia Reset. “No mention of the Reset. ‘The reset button has worked,’ Mr. Obama avowed in a 2009 meeting with Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s figurehead president. That was the same year Mr. Obama announced in Moscow that, ‘The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chessboard are over.’” (Editorial, “Obama At West Point,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/14)

• There Was “No Mention” Of The Pivot To Asia. “No mention of the Pivot or ‘rebalance’ to Asia. This was billed by Hillary Clinton in 2011 as ‘among the most important diplomatic efforts of our time’ and meant as proof that America’s withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan wasn’t simply a retreat from the world.” (Editorial, “Obama At West Point,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/14)

• There Was “No Mention” Of Obama’s Red Line In Syria. “No mention of Mr. Obama’s Red Line in Syria against the use of chemical weapons. No mention, either, of the ostensible success of using diplomacy to disarm Bashar Assad. The President was fond of boasting of this achievement until recently, when it emerged that Assad continues to use chlorine bombs to kill his enemies. Somehow that also didn’t make it into the speech.” (Editorial, “Obama At West Point,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/14)

• There Was “No Mention” Of The Failed Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks. “No mention of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which occupied the bulk of John Kerry’s first year as Secretary of State and which has now collapsed as Mahmoud Abbas patches up his differences with the terrorists of Hamas.” (Editorial, “Obama At West Point,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/14)

Listening To Obama’s Speech Was Like Watching “Cast Away”—“Whatever’s Left From The Wreckage Will Have To Do.” “But listening to Mr. Obama trying to assemble a coherent foreign policy agenda from the record of the past five years was like watching Tom Hanks trying to survive in ‘Cast Away’: Whatever’s left from the wreckage will have to do.” (Editorial, “Obama At West Point,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/14)

Bloomberg

Bloomberg Headline: “Obama’s Mushy Foreign Policy” (Editorial, “Obama’s Mushy Foreign Policy,” Bloomberg, 5/28/14)

Obama’s Speech Was Filled With Contradictions, “Awkward Facts” He Neglected To Mention, And A “Mushiness Of The Initiatives.” “Set aside the contradiction between Obama’s boilerplate about how ‘America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world’ and his warnings, barely two breaths later, about China’s burgeoning military, Russia’s belligerence and the competing aspirations of a new global middle class. And never mind the awkward facts he didn’t mention, whether Russia’s absorption of Crimea or the growing nuclear threat posed by North Korea. Most troubling is the mushiness of the initiatives he proposes as a way to extend U.S. leadership without putting boots on the ground.” (Editorial, “Obama’s Mushy Foreign Policy,”Bloomberg, 5/28/14)

Foreign Policy’s David Rothkopf

Foreign Policy Headline: “Clean Up On Aisle One” (David Rothkopf, “Clean Up On Aisle One,”Foreign Policy, 5/28/14)

Foreign Policy’s David Rothkopf: Borrowing Obama’s Own Metaphor, “This Speech Was A Dribbler Into The Glove Of The First Baseman.” “To borrow from the baseball metaphor the president offered up on his Asia trip when he spoke of a foreign policy made up of singles and doubles rather than home runs, this speech was a dribbler into the glove of the first baseman.” (David Rothkopf, “Clean Up On Aisle One,” Foreign Policy, 5/28/14)

• “It Provided Neither Reassurance To Allies Nor Anything Remotely Like A Foreign-Policy Vision.” (David Rothkopf, “Clean Up On Aisle One,” Foreign Policy, 5/28/14)

• “It Listed Some Problems, Outlined Some Principles, But Did Not Lay Out Any Real Goals Or Even A Hint Of What America’s Objectives In The World Should Be Going Forward.” (David Rothkopf, “Clean Up On Aisle One,” Foreign Policy, 5/28/14)

“If You Wanted To Sum Up The West Point Speech You Might Say That The President Wants To Find A New Low-Cost, Low-Risk Path To American Leadership –A Walmart Foreign Policy.” (David Rothkopf, “Clean Up On Aisle One,” Foreign Policy, 5/28/14)

There are MORE excerpts but I think you get the point.  Even Obama's friends are no longer falling for his habit of giving a speech and declaring a problem solved. Actions speak louder than words and in that area Obama is nearly silent!