Not Ready for Prime Time - Readers--and "Saturday Night Live"--try to anticipate the crisis Biden warned about.
Ubiquitous
items in our Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday columns were devoted to puzzling
out Joe Biden's warning that a President Obama would face a major
international crisis, to which he would respond in an unpopular way that would
ultimately be proved correct. On Saturday, "SNL" devoted its lead sketch to
the same subject (along with Rep. John Murtha's disparaging remarks about his
constituents, which we noted Wednesday as well).
In the sketch, Jason Sudeikis as Biden elaborates on the real Biden's warning:
Let me tell you something else--and listen to me well. As sure
as I'm standing here today, during his first few weeks in office,
this brilliant young president is going to be tested! Tested
by an international crisis, the likes of which this nation has
never before seen! A deliberately manufactured crisis, designed
to test his mettle! All right?
Now, in this crisis, he will have to make decisions, decisions
that may at first, though they may seem, to the casual observer,
seem a little ill considered. Our military may invade Pakistan!
Or surrender to the Chinese! We may sell Hawaii to Saudi Arabia!
Or just destroy it, so it can't fall into North Korean hands.
But just reserve your judgment. We know what we're doin'! That's
right! . . .
Mark my words! If you take away nothing else from what I say
here today, or, indeed, in this entire campaign, remember this:
If Barack Obama is elected, we will have a crisis! And when this
crisis hits--and it will!--in the second week of February, we
may do some weird things. We may cede Florida back to Spain!
Or Alaska to the Russians! We may blow up every nuclear power
plant in the country! We may set fire to Washington, D.C.! We
may round up all French-Canadians. But don't lose faith, it's
all part of a plan. . . .
I'm going to say something else now, and I want you to mark
well the words that I say! The words that I say--and remember
that I said them here today. In the second year of the
presidency of Barack Obama, a young child shall come from
out of the North, from a city of steel! And this child shall
rule for a time! But the child shall rule falsely! In deceit!
By the trident of Neptune! What I have spoken is the truth!
Now, as promised, here are our readers' speculations about the crisis:
Bob Pile: Obama is young and inexperienced, though "brilliant," making him a
man of big ideas but few street smarts. He is likely to be perceived by the
darker elements of the world as weak. This perception of weakness is likely to
prompt these elements to take bold action. The specific action could come from
any of a variety of sources, or from several of them, and the list of likely
opportunists is at least as long as the list of usual suspects from the daily
news. Obama is likely to fumble a challenge of this sort, as he's never before
handled anything like it. Biden is asking for the public's forgiveness,
patience and continued loyalty in advance, because Obama will be learning on
the job, and his mistakes will be magnified if made in the course of dealing
with a significant crisis.
Andrew Selden: Please go back to 1950. This is exactly how the Korean War
started, with an offhand comment from the top of the U.S. government
[Secretary of State Dean Acheson] to the effect that Korea was outside our
security perimeter, which emboldened the North Koreans to think they could
invade the south without a forceful U.S. response. Biden could start another
war now with comments like this that may embolden nutcases in Iran, North
Korea or Venezuela, or even Moscow, who are predisposed to attack us anyway.
Russell Allison: Iran officially rolls out the atomic bomb and makes credible
threats against our interests in the Middle East (I'm talkin' oil). Crude
shoots up to $200 a barrel and becomes scarce in numerous places throughout
the U.S. No gasoline, no heating oil, and the nation looks to Washington to
make Mahmoud Ahmadinejad behave like a civilized Islamic caliph. Obama flies
to Teheran and is given a number of ultimatums--extortion--that Obama will
have to agree to lest we lose 70% of our energy sources. Some of the
ultimatums are no problem for Obama to bow to: get out of Iraq, get out of
Afghanistan, cut all diplomatic and economic support for Israel. Some will be
a little tougher: give up our permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council,
extradite George Bush and Richard Cheney and Condeleezza Rice and Donald
Rumsfeld to The Hague for a war crimes Trial. At first, caving in to Iran's
demands will seem like the wrong thing to do, but with the support of the
Obama worshippers and the promise of endless oil for those who have faith, the
American public will eventually see the wisdom of groveling before those who
have the power to turn off the lights.
Mike Gordon: He's warning the Democratic base that for fear of appearing weak,
Obama will react to a crisis pretty much the same way Bush would--and that
when this happens, the faithful mustn't go berserk. Warmongering will be OK if
Obama does it!
Harold Kaplan: Russia, dying from these oil prices, needs to move now. They
will invade Ukraine. Obama will sit.
Tom George: Here is a scenario that concerns me. And it is, in a literal
sense, a testing like JFK was tested. Suppose Russia begins moving military
hardware, perhaps even missiles, into Venezuela. What will Obama do? Will he
give a good speech at the U.N., just like JFK? Will he enforce the Monroe
Doctrine? Does he even know what the Monroe Doctrine is? This scenario
concerns me because it affects our safety here in America. This is no exercise
in hand-wringing over whether we will go insert ourselves into some foreign
crisis. Doing nothing like in the case of Iran, or negotiating with a
dishonest regime as in North Korea, could be fatal to us.
Jim Winkler: What the heck, I'll try to decode ol' Joe's message. A potential
terrorist attack will be crushed by the efforts of "President Obama." We later
learn the terrorists entered the USA via the Mexican border. President Obama
then announces, to the extreme anger of his leftist brethrens, that the nation
must make a huge sacrifice and shut down our border with Mexico. Obama will
also support policy denying the 12 million illegal immigrants any kind of
amnesty.
Mike Judge: Obama will pardon Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, et al., to prevent
the World Court from getting at them.
Andrew Hamilton: What Biden meant? Essentially, nothing. Political bromide.
The foreign environment is full of potential challenges. Who knows which will
be the first to present itself? Short list: Russia-Ukraine, Hezbollah or Syria
in Lebanon, Iran-Israel, Iran in Iraq, failure to get an Iraq status of forces
agreement, China-Taiwan, a crazy North Korea action, an army coup in Pakistan,
disintegration of Pakistan, a new Pak-India confrontation over Kashmir, a
successful Iran nuclear test, endless African scenarios, more trouble with
Venezuela, this time with Russia backing Chavez. All Biden is saying is that
any of these will present a new president with difficult choices; his
decisions will be open to second guessing; and his backers should be patient
and stand by their man.
Erik Ivers: I think he was trying to say that an Obama presidency would be
tested by military action against our interests overseas, and that Obama would
respond in a very warlike manner. The group he was talking to would think that
was wrong, and Obama would need them to accept that it was right over the long
run. I think they are more worried about their status with the left than
anything else. I also think that Biden is not the brightest bulb on the tree,
and that he has probably said 20 wrong things per correct thing, but that this
was one of those instances on the short side of the equation. He was speaking
for what Joe Biden would do, and projected it onto Obama. Obama's reaction to
provocation would be far different than Joe Biden's. I fear Biden got the
first part right, and the second part wrong. Obama is a basic pacifist, and
would be very unlikely to come out swinging. Left unsaid was that a McCain
presidency, if tested at all, would not be tested militarily. His reaction
would be to blow them up now and sort them out later. They mostly all know
that.
Mike Marshall: I'd bet money that Biden's talking about Iraq, and the grown-up
reality that the U.S. will need to keep forces in place for the foreseeable
future. Obama has made so much about the "mistake" of the U.S. being in Iraq,
and has promised the Angry Left that he would begin withdrawing immediately.
Although he backed off that promise somewhat once he secured the nomination,
he has been bringing the subject up again lately, saying, "We shouldn't keep
spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqis sit on a huge surplus."
While the sane (including Obama and Biden) realize we will need to continue
doing so for at least another year, the Angry Left will be furious that the
drawdown doesn't begin immediately, and will likely howl "betrayal." I believe
that's what Biden means when he talks about certain decisions being unpopular.
Paul Cordes: By definition a test is "a set of questions, problems, or the
like, used as a means of evaluating the abilities, aptitudes, skills, or
performance of an individual or group; examination." It could be as simple as
a written exam from Medvedev or Ahmadinejad on current affairs.
Roger Johnson: In a near reprise of events in 1962, China moves nuclear
missiles and bombers into Cuba, then begins threatening actions against
Taiwan. Tensions build. China offers to remove the missiles in Cuba if the
United States withdraws the Seventh Fleet to Japan. President Obama complies.
China invades Taiwan. The missiles remain in Cuba.
Alice Felt: Perhaps his comments have less to do with any specific actual
crisis and more to do with Obama's reaction. I'm guessing Obama will take the
opportunity presented by any threat, real or perceived, to drastically
increase government intrusions in our lives, raise taxes through the roof and
suppress any opposition, etc. He will make Homeland Security look like child's
play, and Biden has given the left advance warning that Obama will need their
support for unpopular actions, that the left needs to hang in there because
there will be a silver lining, and we can imagine what that might be, perhaps
the world order the left has been longing for, the completion of the
revolution and subjugation of the masses.
Benny Barrow: It seems to me that Biden's remark is loaded with clues. He says
I can give you four or five scenarios from where this might originate. He says
that the response will be unpopular. He says that we will need to stick with
them. What I think he must be talking about is a cutoff of oil imports from
whatever is the offending nation. Clearly a reduction in supply to the U.S.
would have immediate economic consequences. It would be upsetting to all
Americans. They would be asked to stand with the president while incurring
significant financial costs for energy. We would be asked to change our lives
in order to sustain the self imposed embargo. Car pooling, travel limitations,
conservation via thermostat settings, and just a real focus of energy use on a
need-only basis. Obviously, participation of our friends and allies would be
part of the strategy. The thinking would be that the exporting country could
not take the economic pressure to their economies. Those countries like Iran,
Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Algeria and others depend on that revenue.
Some whose governments are already teetering on civil unrest due to their
current economic conditions. They would not and could not sustain that type of
challenge and expect to stay in power. The U.S. would prevail and the
transformation of global politics as it relates to tolerance would mark the
beginning of maybe the Obama doctrine.
Martin Shimp: Keep in mind who Biden was speaking to: hardcore Obama
supporters who give a lot of money to him and his party. Biden had to be
preparing them for something that would hugely disturb them. It could be the
use of the military in a way that even George Bush might not consider. That
could mean anything from nuclear weapons to martial law. Imagine open hostile
military action between Israel and Iran. Obama then responds in a hawkish
manner to assure the 50% who didn't vote for him that he is not the Caspar
Milquetoast he truly is: "spine of steal." Right. Then Iran unleashes all the
Hezbollah cells already here to wreak three kinds of hell domestically.
Schools are attacked, children killed, malls leveled, etc. The people panic
and begin arming themselves and attacking in all directions. Martial law then
becomes necessary. But Biden wants the liberal elite to ride it out--to
"support" the policy because he knows that, even for closet liberal fascists,
a k a hardcore Obamanauts, martial law seems a bit too Bush-like.
Paul Higby: OK, remember when Obama was over in all those foreign countries a
few months back? Do we have a transcript of every word spoken between him and
foreign leaders? Was there a time he could have negotiated a "saber rattling"
of sorts, on the part of a foreign government, and then the new president
running to the rescue in the form of "negotiating" with the rattlers without
preconditions? And winning the "unconditional negotiation"? That would go a
long way toward making it look like he wasn't right to begin with, turning out
to be right, and Biden is so excited that he's in on the secret he can't keep
his yap shut and spills the beans.
Paul Yerkey: What I think is most interesting about Biden's statement is the
megalomania that it reveals. First, Biden says that whatever happens will be
done to test Obama. Clearly, the effect on the United States or our allies is
less important than the effect it will have on Obama. Second, Biden assumes
that Obama will have a response that is both unpopular and correct. That
combination reveals an astounding conceit. Making an unpopular decision and
sticking to it can be an example of courage. Assuming before the facts are
known that you will make an unpopular decision and still be right can only
mean that you assume that you are smarter than everyone else.
Paul Medford: Biden was actually referring to an interplanetary crisis, of
which he has inside intelligence. Months after Obama is elected, city-sized
spaceships will hover over the world's major metropolitan areas and destroy
them with a giant cosmic ray. Conventional military weaponry will be useless
against these spaceships since they all employ a deflector shield controlled
by a mother ship hovering in Earth's orbit. Obama's response will be to
unleash a nuclear strike against one of the spacecraft hovering over a U.S.
city, say Houston, in an attempt to destroy it. Survivors of the initial
attack may be wary of such a response, but Biden just wants to reassure those
still living at that point that they should have faith in their president.
Come to think of it, that last one is a bit far-fetched. Maybe Mr. Medford is
angling for a job at "Saturday Night Live."
--
It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.
B. Peg
women to wear burkas by Ramadan.
Should be an easy sketch to do.
FWIW, I've got my "Burkas Approved by Obama" franchise already in the
works.
B~
John Gilmer
liberals/democRATs get back into control there just will not be much humor
in making fun of Republicans.
They can either "shut down" for 4 years or shift gears and gear up to take
pot shots at the democRATs.
Antonio E. Gonzalez
Why would American women suddenly start wearing burkas under
President Obama?
--
- ReFlex 76
- "Let's beat the terrorists with our most powerful weapon . . . hot
girl-on-girl action!"
- "The difference between young and old is the difference between
looking forward to your next birthday, and dreading it!"
- Jesus Christ - The original hippie!
<http://reflex76.blogspot.com/>
<http://www.blogger.com/profile/07245047157197572936>
Katana > Chain Saw > Baseball Bat > Hammer
Antonio E. Gonzalez
wrote:
>Now we know where the guys at "Saturday Night Live" get their ideas. Last week
>items in our Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday columns were devoted to puzzling
>out Joe Biden's warning that a President Obama would face a major
>international crisis, to which he would respond in an unpopular way that would
>ultimately be proved correct. On Saturday, "SNL" devoted its lead sketch to
>the same subject (along with Rep. John Murtha's disparaging remarks about his
>constituents, which we noted Wednesday as well).
>
<snip>
Interesing that Joe Lieberman made an almost identical remark two
years ago, yet still doesn't get this kind of attention . . .:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ht9VbaR3-0>