One World? Obama's On A Different Planet

by John R. Bolton - July 26th, 2008 - Los Angeles Times

Having earlier proclaimed himself "a fellow citizen of the world" with his German hosts, Obama explained that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Europe proved "that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one."

Perhaps Obama needs a remedial course in Cold War history, but the Berlin Wall most certainly did not come down because "the world stood as one." The wall fell because of a decades-long, existential struggle against one of the greatest totalitarian ideologies mankind has ever faced. It was a struggle in which strong and determined U.S. leadership was constantly questioned, both in Europe and by substantial segments of the senator's own Democratic Party. In Germany in the later years of the Cold War, Ostpolitik -- "eastern politics," a policy of rapprochement rather than resistance -- continuously risked a split in the Western alliance and might have allowed communism to survive. The U.S. president who made the final successful assault on communism, Ronald Reagan, was derided by many in Europe as not very bright, too unilateralist and too provocative.

The speech in Berlin actually proves two things about Obama. He is a global socialist, as many have proclaimed, ready to squander our national wealth in fighting poverty, not just in America, but throughout the world. And like Jimmy Carter he lives in the clouds, never allowing reality to get in the way of his soaring visions of world unity, assuring that our enemies do not have to win victories so much as wait for him to grant them at no cost.

As a President, he will be a disaster.