Barack Obama Gives Hugo Chavez A “Boys In The Hood” Hand Shake. What Was That All About?

It is difficult for me to ascertain what President Obama’s was trying to accomplish during his Summit of the Americas Tour. Why would he want to give Hugo Chavez a photo op of a lifetime? There they were together, smiling and shaking hands boys-in-the-hood style. Barack even gently tapped Chavez’s shoulder, a clear sign of affection. What was that all about? I didn’t expect our President to be rude towards President Chavez; a perfunctory hand shake would have sufficed. Does Barack actually believe that Chavez should be treated like all the other democratically elected Presidents? It is difficult to believe that the last Argentine Presidential election was not rigged.

When a reporter asked President Barack about his cordial meeting with Chavez during a press conference in Trinidad and Tobago, Barack actually said that Argentina spends a fraction of a percent on military spending compared to that of the United States. What are we so concerned about? This commentary was even more astonishing than the remarkable photo op. Hugo Chavez is causing a great deal of trouble not only in that part of the world, but he has ties to Iran. Why would Barack pass up a great opportunity to at least admonish the Argentine President for his covert support of the rebel, drug cartel in Columbia. After all, President Uribe of Columbia is our true ally who has courageously fought a bitter struggle against the drug cartel in his country.

In fact, I found that Barack’s tail-between-the-legs demeanor during his European and Americas tours disconcerting. Publicly criticizing the Bush administration in a foreign country is bad form. Barack should talk about what he is going to do. Why should he have to apologize to the Europeans anyway? The Europeans blamed Bush for their lack of cooperation, maintaining he was too arrogant. They found his Texas-cowboy bravado offensive. Now that they have “Mr. Humble Pie” to deal with, what is their current excuse for not increasing combat troops in Afghanistan when Barack asked for this help? The French and the Germans have relied on our military umbrella for years. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on defense, prosecute wars for them, like Kosovo, and this allows them to have extra funds to spend on their social programs. This is a great deal.

Unfortunately, we did not get any “Tear down this wall!” Reaganesque moments from President Barack, like when Reagan forcefully told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. My hope was that his obsequious public posturing during these trips was very different than his behind-closed-doors demeanor. It would be nice to believe that there were some nose-to-nose discussions going on. Our so-called allies are not contributing their fair share for their own defense and the global war on terror. Oh, I am sorry, we’re not supposed to refer to this as the “global war on terror” since the administration has come up with a new euphemism, “Overseas Contingency Operation.”

Hopefully, President Obama’s more conciliatory public posture coupled with his winning personality will have the desired impact on our allies and foes. While I am not very confidant that this approach will have a positive outcome, he is our President and I am rooting for his success.