Changing of the Guard

Opinion by George McClellan:

Yesterday, a bevy of world leaders descended on China to participate in the G20 Summit. China is this years host country. Chinese hate to lose face by committing social errors, inadvertent or otherwise, when those errors can be anticipated and provided for. Chinese will anguish over their “faux pas’ until such time as the error can be put right and honor (face) restored. Such an incident, one without precedent, occurred yesterday.

When our legacy minded buffoon of a president arrived in his big expensively operated airplane, the Chinese apparently declined to roll out the exit gangway so Obama could deplane in honor and glory to cheers and adulation. By the way, that was also the “red carpet” gangway. The whole tawdry event necessitated Obama’s exit from his airborne palace through the servants entrance to stand, embarrassed, on the hot tarmac. So much for honor and glory. The Chinese? They’re not anguishing. Their reaction: “So sorry, get over it.” They sent a message to Obama of who is in charge now. It was a public changing of the guard and the world was watching.

Such an affront to any world leader is unprecedented for its callousness and daring and, any real world leader worth his reputation would have immediately ordered the flight crew to plot a course home, fire up the engines and get out of there. That’s how the game is played. The Chinese did not make a mistake. They made a calculated guess that Obama, already a recognized incompetent, weakling, would cave in to their insult and, sure enough, he did. China Pwon! Oh, them rascally Chinese can be ruthless in their politics.

Most of us remember the Reykjavik Summit between Premier Gorbachev of the Soviet Union and Ronald Reagan, over the simple little matter of Reagan introducing a few piddly American cruise missiles into Europe to confront the USSR’s ability to financially respond. Gorbachev, it will be recalled, made a negotiated demand that Reagan knew wouldn’t and couldn’t possibly be met. In response President Reagan announced there was apparently no need for further talks, got up from the table and said: “lets go home,” and he did!

The diplomatic world was stunned by such diplomatic depravity. But, soon thereafter, the USSR came crashing down, as Reagan and Maggie Thatcher knew it would and, a few years later we have an incompetent wastrel apologist president undoing all the good works that came before him. Clearly, the Chinese learned the Reagan lessons well, and retained them.

China’s insult has immediately changed the dynamics of any further negations between Obama and any other world leader. He might as well quit right now and let Joe Biden have a go, because, anything that now comes out of the G20 Summit, agreed to by Obama, will be suspect, criticized, and probably ignored, especially the silly world climate change nonsense.

Obama’s legacy as a gifted foreign affairs politician, already in tatters, will now and forever be firmly etched in the text books of college courses everywhere as a pitiful example of diplomatic incompetence and failed leadership. Ronald Reagan’s diplomatic achievements, on the other hand, will always shine as the greatest example of leadership by any captain of the free world in modern times. His example can and should be emulated.

Thomas Jefferson said it best: “Weakness invites insult and injury”. Obama has just proved it.

Remember, freedom is the goal, the Constitution is the way. Now, go get ‘em! (5 Sept 2016)