OPINION:
Someone should have warned Barack Obama that there was more to the presidency than just enjoying the prestige and respect of the office.
When President Obama went on NBC’s “Tonight” show, he bragged that first lady Michelle Obama thought he looked “cute” in his Air Force One jacket. Mr. Obama has taken advantage of all the perks of this office and gotten fully engaged in his earlier promise of “fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”
This “domestic” president seems totally disinterested in foreign policy. In 2009, he went on an apology tour and called Americans “dismissive and derisive.” His bowing stance was noticeable.
The world was watching and listening. It was clear that Mr. Obama was uncomfortable with the United States being known as the most powerful nation, and that he wanted to change that image.
When he spoke to the United Nations, he declared that “one nation should not dominate another,” making clear that he thinks the United States should no longer be feared as a power. Foreign countries took notice.
Mr. Obama gives the impression that he does not want America to get involved in foreign affairs. Getting involved and saying the right things does not mean that Americans are professing to put boots on the ground.
It just means that we want our president to be aware and involved and to act decisively. No more “red lines” unless you mean them.
Cutting the military budget is being done in the interest of Mr. Obama. His proposed cuts would bring the military to unreasonable and dangerous levels, cutting America’s might.
Mr. Obama knows it, and enemies of the United States know it, and the challenges have come.
Country by country, incident by incident — Iran, Egypt, Libya and Syria — have all brought awkward moments for Mr. Obama. All too soon Mr. Obama gained the reputation as “indecisive,” “weak,” “not credible” and “leading from behind.”
Now it’s Russia and the Ukraine. It wasn’t as if Mr. Obama wasn’t warned.
During the 2012 campaign presidential campaign Republican candidate Mitt Romney stated that he thought Russia would be an antagonist — and he was vilified by Mr. Obama, his team and the mainstream media.
Republicans are not blaming Mr. Obama for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine, but we are blaming Mr. Obama for lowering America’s standing in the world.
We are now all cognizant that Mr. Obama’s weak stance on America’s foreign policies has truly invited adversaries to act against our interests without fear of reprisal.
PAT REINKE
New Berlin, Wis.
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