OBAMA'S SPEECH - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  Like most Obama speeches, his address to the UN General Assembly yesterday is now forgotten.  The Gettysburg Address it was not.

Some conservatives were much harsher on the speech than I was, and they may well be right.  But, as I told a reader, I set a low rhetorical standard for this president, who never fails to disappoint.  He always sounds more than the president of the world, or some other planet, than president of the United States.  I don't think, by the way, that the public is buying this.  You see absolutely no excitement about the Obama foreign policy, except perhaps, at the editorial offices of exotic journals.

The mainstream media is doing its best to present Mr. Obama's very physical presence at the UN as some kind of transforming experience.  He has come, he has waved his hand over the assemblage, there is peace on Earth and good will toward men...and it's cooler, too.

The Russians have indicated they may go along with further sanctions against Iran.  The Israelis and Palestinians may get back to what passes for the peace table in the Mideast.  There are all kinds of mays coming out of this high-profile week at the UN, but no definites.

The president chairs the Security Council today.  It's being promoted as a groundbreaking event:  No American president has ever chaired the Security Council before, probably because they all had enough common sense to stay away.  But we'll wait for the photo op, see if Khadafy shows up to sit near Mr. Obama - whom he described yesterday as "my son" - and watch to see if the president of the United States displays any backbone, a rarity.

Then Mr. Obama goes on to a meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh.  Are you asleep already?

September 24, 2009  

OBAMA'S SPEECH - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  Like most Obama speeches, his address to the UN General Assembly yesterday is now forgotten.  The Gettysburg Address it was not.

Some conservatives were much harsher on the speech than I was, and they may well be right.  But, as I told a reader, I set a low rhetorical standard for this president, who never fails to disappoint.  He always sounds more than the president of the world, or some other planet, than president of the United States.  I don't think, by the way, that the public is buying this.  You see absolutely no excitement about the Obama foreign policy, except perhaps, at the editorial offices of exotic journals.

The mainstream media is doing its best to present Mr. Obama's very physical presence at the UN as some kind of transforming experience.  He has come, he has waved his hand over the assemblage, there is peace on Earth and good will toward men...and it's cooler, too.

The Russians have indicated they may go along with further sanctions against Iran.  The Israelis and Palestinians may get back to what passes for the peace table in the Mideast.  There are all kinds of mays coming out of this high-profile week at the UN, but no definites.

The president chairs the Security Council today.  It's being promoted as a groundbreaking event:  No American president has ever chaired the Security Council before, probably because they all had enough common sense to stay away.  But we'll wait for the photo op, see if Khadafy shows up to sit near Mr. Obama - whom he described yesterday as "my son" - and watch to see if the president of the United States displays any backbone, a rarity.

Then Mr. Obama goes on to a meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh.  Are you asleep already?

September 24, 2009