SUCKER PUNCHED BY KHRUSHCHEV
Obama Needs To Read This

This needs to be passed around and around until everyone knows what can happen in well-intentioned meetings with one's adversaries.


Kennedy Talked, Khrushchev Triumphed From New York Times op-ed:
Nathan Thrall is a journalist. Jesse James Wilkins is a doctoral candidate in political science at Columbia.

May 22, 2008

Senator Obama defended his position by again enlisting Kennedy's
legacy: "If George Bush and John McCain have a problem with direct
diplomacy led by the president of the United States, then they can
explain why they have a problem with John F. Kennedy, because that's
what he did with Khrushchev."

But Kennedy's one presidential meeting with Nikita Khrushchev, the
Soviet premier, suggests that there are legitimate reasons to fear
negotiating with one's adversaries. Although Kennedy was keenly aware
of some of the risks of such meetings - his Harvard thesis was titled
"Appeasement at Munich" - he embarked on a summit meeting with
Khrushchev in Vienna in June 1961, a move that would be recorded as
one of the more self-destructive American actions of the cold war, and
one that contributed to the most dangerous crisis of the nuclear age.

Senior American statesmen like George Kennan advised Kennedy not to
rush into a high-level meeting, arguing that Khrushchev had engaged
in anti-American propaganda and that the issues at hand could as well
be addressed by lower-level diplomats. Kennedy's own secretary of
state, Dean Rusk, had argued much the same in a Foreign Affairs
article the previous year: "Is it wise to gamble so heavily? Are not
these two men who should be kept apart until others have found a sure
meeting ground of accommodation between them?"

But Kennedy went ahead, and for two days he was pummeled by the
Soviet leader. Despite his eloquence, Kennedy was no match as a
sparring partner, and offered only token resistance as Khrushchev
lectured him on the hypocrisy of American foreign policy, cautioned
America against supporting "old, moribund, reactionary regimes" and
asserted that the United States, which had valiantly risen against
the British, now stood "against other peoples following its suit."
Khrushchev used the opportunity of a face-to-face meeting to warn
Kennedy that his country could not be intimidated and that it was
"very unwise" for the United States to surround the Soviet Union with
military bases.

Nikita punk'd him:

Kennedy's aides convinced the press at the time that behind closed
doors the president was performing well, but American diplomats in
attendance, including the ambassador to the Soviet Union, later said
they were shocked that Kennedy had taken so much abuse. Paul Nitze,
the assistant secretary of defense, said the meeting was "just a
disaster." Khrushchev's aide, after the first day, said the American
president seemed "very inexperienced, even immature." Khrushchev
agreed, noting that the youthful Kennedy was "too intelligent and too
weak." The Soviet leader left Vienna elated - and with a very low
opinion of the leader of the free world.

Kennedy's assessment of his own performance was no less severe.
Only a few minutes after parting with Khrushchev, Kennedy, a World
War II veteran, told James Reston of The New York Times that the
summit meeting had been the "roughest thing in my life." Kennedy went
on: "He just beat the hell out of me. I've got a terrible problem if
he thinks I'm inexperienced and have no guts. Until we remove those
ideas we won't get anywhere with him."

A little more than two months later, Khrushchev gave the go-ahead
to begin erecting what would become the Berlin Wall. Kennedy had
resigned himself to it, telling his aides in private that "a wall is
a hell of a lot better than a war." The following spring, Khrushchev
made plans to "throw a hedgehog at Uncle Sam's pants": nuclear
missiles in Cuba. And while there were many factors that led to the
missile crisis, it is no exaggeration to say that the impression
Khrushchev formed at Vienna - of Kennedy as ineffective - was among
them.

If Barack Obama wants to follow in Kennedy's footsteps, he should
heed the lesson that Kennedy learned in his first year in office:
sometimes there is good reason to fear to negotiate.

A SHORT FALL FROM GRACE

“A Messianic complex is not just the general wish to redeem the world or to improve the conditions of the world, but it includes another component equally as important. The messianic wish is not merely a general wish for improved conditions and for changes for the better, but the wish of that person to become personally the redeemer of the world.”

Sometimes, a group views a person as a sort of “messiah”. That person doesn’t have to make any claims to be a messiah, but if he is treated as such by his followers, the results are the same. I found part of this definition on the Internet and couldn’t find the source, but does anyone doubt that this “Messianic complex” very aptly describes Barrack Obama and the Democrats today?

They truly believe they need to save us from ourselves. (US….meaning “us” Republicans) They know best what this nation needs, but better yet, they know what’s best for you and me.

* They know that you don’t need guns (after all you are just angry and bitter).
* They know you need religion (as long as it is their brand of religion).
* They know the government needs to tell you how to eat, maybe even penalizing you financially if you order a Big Mac.
* They know the United States should grant amnesty to all the illegals that are here right now (especially those working in the agricultural industry). We must be compassionate.
* They know how best to raise your children (after all, It Takes a Village).
* They know that private schools and home schools could never be as effective as public education. (could it be that the Teacher’s Union is in the back pocket of the Democrats?)
* They know that sitting down with rogue leaders of terrorist nations will make us all feel better. After all, maybe we can finally find out why they don’t like us and talk them out of being bad .
* They want to reduce our military while muslim "jihad" is taking place all over the world.
* They want to disarm our nuclear capability while rogue nations are building up theirs.
* They know a little ole’ country like Iran couldn't possibly be a threat to a big ole’ country like the USA or our allies. (Israel?)
* They know that you want to have universal health care like Canada. After all, it has worked so well there. (just kidding!)
* They know that you really want to re-define the definition of marriage, because if you don’t, then you must be a nasty ole’ homophobe and they will have to pass some hate crime laws to keep you in line.
* And mostly…….they know that they are morally superior to you if you don’t think like they do.

When is someone who is politically prominent and respected by both parties going to have the kahonies to tell the masses swallowing this Obama Kool-Aid that the Democrats really do want them to stay on the plantation…..yes, even Obama.

When is it going to matter to the American people that Obama is an empty suit full of empty rhetoric? (Where is the press in investigating his less than savory ties and associations?) He can speak for hours and say nothing. His followers are so gullible they don’t even understand his use of “catch phrases” and “buzz words” to appeal to their fears?

As much as I find disdainful and disgusting about this phenomenon, perhaps it isn’t entirely their fault. The mainstream media has consistently portrayed Obama as the Great Redeemer, the Savior of the masses. They are indulging in a great orgiastic media-fest, the likes of which we haven’t seen since The Beatles and Elvis. When they granted John and Bobby Kennedy halos and wings, at least they were intelligent and had charisma. Obama only marginally meets the criteria for charisma . Anyone would be hard-pressed to name anything he has actually accomplished in his two short years in Congress that qualifies him to be President.

Seems I remember not so very long ago the Clinton's were the media darlings. Now, with the appearance of a new savior on the horizon, they have certainly lost their place among the celestial kingdom of bright media stars . They show us the masses of humanity at Obama’s events and portray him speaking to the crowd like Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount. Alas…..how quickly they anoint and then condemn to the depths of that place that shall go unnamed! If we’ve learned anything at all, it should be that people elevated to such heights by mere mortals cannot help but disappoint, fall from grace and generally fail us in ways we can’t even imagine yet. Obama might be riding a great wave for now, but he should be very, very afraid! It’s not such a long fall from Savior to Prince of Darkness. Just ask Bill and Hillary.