Apologizer-in-Chief

Nile Gardner explains why President Obama got such a nice reception at the UN:

It is not hard to see why a standing ovation awaits the president at Turtle Bay. Obama’s popularity at the UN boils down essentially to his willingness to downplay American global power. He is the first American president who has made an art form out of apologizing for the United States, which he has done on numerous occasions on foreign soil, from Strasbourg to Cairo.

The president scores highly at the UN for refusing to project American values and military might on the world stage... His appeasement of Iran, his bullying of Israel, his surrender to Moscow, his call for a nuclear free world, his siding with Marxists in Honduras, his talk of a climate change deal, have all won him plaudits in the large number of UN member states where US foreign policy has traditionally been viewed with contempt.

Simply put, Barack Obama is loved at the UN because he largely fails to advance real American leadership. This is a dangerous strategy of decline that will weaken US power and make her far more vulnerable to attack. [bold added]

The nations of the world recognize that Obama is one of them. Not only does he agree that America should feel guilty for its successes, but it should actively work to level the playing field by sacrificing itself. Publicly, other nations welcome Obama's cosmopolitan attitude, but privately they know they can exploit his weaknesses.

It was clear that, for all of his incredible faults, George Bush at least had contempt for the UN. He saw it as an anti-American institution, at fundamental odds with our country's national self-interest. Of course he also accepted the altruist/collectivist ethics promoted by that institution, so his contempt looked more reactionary and petulant than principled. Still, he saw it for what it was.

Obama sees it for what it is, too. And he likes it. He pleads for acceptance... really, we're not that bad! I promise! And he's ready to put our money where his mouth is.

Billy Beck sees this too, and asks a more fundamental and very important question:

How much longer will Americans put up with the United Nations?

It's really that simple, ladies and gentlemen. This was an abomination from the very beginning, and will now heartily endorse the contempt of a United States president for the people of his country.

I am ordinarily very careful about any suggestions of violence, but this is clear to me: the United Nations complex at Turtle Bay must be emptied, gutted, and razed to the ground. Nobody in the world would ever do it but Americans, and the world would be so astonished that it could all be gone before everyone else had one word to say to it. [bold added]

I don't have an answer to his question, but I know that the only way an American rejection of the UN would be possible is if they reject the altruistic foundation upon which it was built. And that's a much bigger, deeper fight.

Oh, and his final suggestion made me think of Cortlandt Homes.