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Rodney King Goes to Cairo

By Larry Johnson on June 4, 2009 at 4:55 PM in Current Affairs

Amid the public adulation of President Obama’s as both the 21st century messiah and the bane of radical Islamists was this telling image–when Barack arrived in Egypt President Hosni Mubarak did not go to the airport to greet the “savior.” Nope, he made Obama come to him. It was not quite the bow to Saudi Prince Abdullah but the effect was the same. Obama came to Mubarak. Within the Arab world of authoritarian leaders Mubarak made it clear who was the alpha dog and who was the lap dog. With the help of TOTUS, Barack gave a swell speech and the media swooned. The Valley Girl syndrome gripping the media (e.g., Oh my God!!, He’s so rad) does little to enlighten. The fact that Barack Obama got an enthusiastic reception at a speech where the audience was handpicked chosen is not news. If they didn’t cheer? That would have been news.

I do give the Obama team credit–they are pros at manipulating the media and ensuring the news shows adhere to the storyline the White House wants. Nothing surprising or unique in this.

The Obama team is not the first to excel at Presidential propaganda and, sadly, will not be the last. Remember how the supposedly inept Bush Administration sold the American people and the world on the need to invade Iraq? High-minded speeches with beautiful rhetorical flourishes, seasoned with religious phrases and quotes, does not translate into actual peace agreements. Today was not, as James Carville proclaims, “engagement.” Today was classic Obama pandering.

Let’s recall that George W. Bush traveled to various military bases and gave speeches in front of uniformed men and women (who had little choice but to welcome their Commander-in-Chief) but his words, albeit stilted and awkward, accomplished little in altering the strategic situation in either Afghanistan or Iraq. Although Barack rocks in reading the tele-prompter the substance of his soaring oratory was more Rodney King goes to Cairo than Winston Churchill rallying the world in the face of Nazi oppression. Barack pleaded, “Can’t we just all get along?”

Barack delivered a winner for cable news channels desperate to justify their existence and eager to hype a clever political gesture into a celestial event on par with Nixon opening China. Good Christ!! Nixon at least got the Chinese to sign important agreements. Barack? He got a couple of standing ovations. Those are great ego boosters but provide little in the way of substantive accomplishment. Two years from now Barack’s Cairo speech will have faded into the mists of history. If Barack’s moment today was not Rodney King then maybe the more apt comparison is Macbeth’s lament:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

  • pm317

    Perfect title!

  • sandi78

    But…but..an Obama-loving friend assured me that this speech had changed the course of US history, even World history.

    Perfect quote.

    • http://! stodgie

      perfect rube!

  • trixta

    The McBeth quote is more apt (great quote BTW!).

    “[It] is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing.”

    Faulkner also used part of this quote in his THE SOUND AND THE FURY, in which an “idiot” (i.e. here, a mentally challenged man) is featured as a kind of noble protagonist. Obama may not be mentally challenged as in Faulkner’s novel, but he is certainly an idiot with no noble qualities.

    • oowawa

      LOL trixta–good connection to The Sound and the Fury. And isn’t it fun when Larry Johnson cites Shakespeare? And he picked the right play–Macbeth, the man who was motivated by his wife to Be King at all costs and was finally haunted by ghosts. Hamlet would have been far too noble and introspective a protagonist.

      Will Thee One eventually be haunted by ghosts? I don’t know if he has that much depth of character.

      But we’re still in the 3rd Act. Acts 4 & 5 will be interesting. This would all be really amusing, if we weren’t living through it in “Real Life.”

      • trixta

        Acts 4&5?!! Please, make it stop…

  • hokma

    “President Hosni Mubarak did not go to the airport to greet the “savior.” Nope, he made Obama come to him.”

    Amazing how the mainstream media didn’t pick up this.

    It was one of many actions and comments that symbolized the continuation of the Obama Apology Tour” as its been called.

    His speech was uneventful. It will be forgotten tomorrow and ignored forever.

    It will have no impact on Middle East affairs except to further empower radical elements who know that in Obama they have an ally or, at least, a feckless fool who doesn’t have the “saykhel” to know when he is being demeaned.

    • RedDragon62

      “President Hosni Mubarak did not go to the airport to greet the “savior.” Nope, he made Obama come to him.”

      Amazing how the mainstream media didn’t pick up this.

      Oh, you better believe that they picked up on it! Bank on it! but the media have a bigger agenda at play here…Whatever it takes to make Obie look good. Nothing will come between the Pimp and his Whores!

    • Ellen D

      A friend of mine used to do work in Japan. One time he went over and a lower level person met him at the airport. My friend said that he promptly turned around and took the next flight back.
      The Japanese company treated him with great respect after that and that never happened again.
      You have to be aware of what things mean and where that puts you in the pecking order if you let yourself be pushed around.

      • pm317

        Isn’t this the same thing Hillary said when she countered his “no preconditions, meet anyone, anytime as President” argument — that you don’t “grant” the privilege of your company to thugs and other less deserving people and use it as leverage. Mubarak knows what he is doing, I guess, especially in a society with pecking order to boot.

        Also I think Mubarak rightly recognized that they were being used by 0bama. What is in it for Mubarak with this speech? It is all about 0bama.

    • Nellie

      Hokma,

      Having taught foreign (ie Arabs) for over 20 years at the college level, I also know that Hosni Mubarak sent a message not only to his own people, but also to Jordan and Lebanon that they do NOT have to respect Obama at all.

      Does this imperil our national security? Absolutely, unless Larry can explain otherwise.

  • CG

    perfect tone and appropriate assessment, LJ.

    Obama’s speech signifies nothing. His legacy speeches that translate into little progress, because they are pure marketing for a product that does not exist. Words don’t satisfy, actions do. Obama is a total wimp on every issue, and he has yet to follow through to do what is right for everyday Americans or our neighbors throughout the world.

  • IndieDogg

    The Barack Hussein Obama Center for Technology & Science, built in the Mideast with U.S. dollars, will be standing long after this speech is forgotten.

    With Pyrotechnics 401, “Advanced Explosives for Martyrs” being taught in the basement.

    • pm317

      I involuntarily laughed out loud reading your comment. But it is no laughing matter, is it?

  • http://noquarter foxyladi14

    my he sure has fancy speech writers..

    • oowawa

      Led by that august & erudite scholar of all things dealing with the Muslim world–Jon Favreau.

  • sjc-tx

    Rodney King goes to Cairo

    Love it! I’d laugh if we weren’t in such serious trouble!

    • HARP

      With follow up appearances in Germany and Normandy.

  • Diana L. C.

    Larry,

    Thanks for the analysis.

    Macbeth gives this speech when he learns of Lady Macbeth’s death over her guilt. He is facing his own impending death. Obama’s speech is indeed a tale told by an idiot, but one spoken by someone with no “tragic flaw.” He’s just an idiot and would not be a good subject for the Bard to immortalize as a tragic hero.

    • Jackarooty

      The title made my day! Strange irony but I referred to Michelle yesterday as Lady Macbeth.

  • mel

    From Obama’s speech:

    This issue has been a source of tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. For many years, Iran has defined itself in part by its opposition to my country, and there is indeed a tumultuous history between us. In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically-elected Iranian government. Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians. This history is well known. Rather than remain trapped in the past, I have made it clear to Iran’s leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. The question, now, is not what Iran is against, but rather what future it wants to build.

    First I am suprised LJ didn’t jump on this part of Dumbo’s speech!

    Second, DUMBO proves he does not listen, Iran has made it clear what future they want to built, one with Israel wiped off the face of the earth!

  • HARP

    MSNBC finally gets to the truth.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-NTh7NrZ2E

    • oowawa

      Hey HARP–that’s funny!

  • sjc-tx

    I’ll tell you one thing… he must be getting a really sore arse… with all that fence sitting and swavering back and forth…

  • Diana L. C.

    Larry,

    Thanks for the analysis.

    For me, the problem with your use of the speech from Macbeth is that Macbeth, though one of Shakespeare’s least sympathetic tragic heroes, is still a tragic hero. He speaks the words you quote after he learns of the death of the manipulative Lady Macbeth, whom he did seem to love. He realizes the lack of meaning in his own grasp for power as he faces his own death. The tragedy is that Macbeth gave up his good character, which he had previously.

    I don’t think Barky gave up anything in that regard.
    I cannot see Obama as a tragic hero; he is just an idiot telling an idiot’s tale.

    Maybe we could compare him more to an American character: Sinclair Lewis’ narcissistic Elmer Gantry–someone who enjoyed fame, money, and adulation, and someone who was good at giving sermons but with no moral character behind him to justify his giving them.

    • Diana L. C.

      Sorry for two posts–The first one seemed to blip off my computer so I didn’t think it went through.

    • Patience

      Oooohhh, I like the Elmer Gantry analogy. Quite apt. Exactly so. Excellent!!!

      But we’re all innocent when we’re born, so maybe Larry’s quote isn’t off the mark. It remains to be seen though if the POTUS will ever be as rueful as MacBeth was when he uttered those words.

  • Diana L. C.

    Larry,

    Thank you for the analysis; I trust your take and know I won’t get any objective or critical analysis from the MSM.

    The problem with using the quotation from Macbeth is this, however. Macbeth, though one of Shakespeare’s least sympathetic characters, is a tragic hero. He could have been a good man and was on his way to that before he was overcome with greed for power.

    Now that does sound like Barky, too. But Macbeth gives this speech after hearing of the death of Lady Mabeth, whom he did seem to love. It shows his own acceptance of the futility of his grasp for power as he faces his own death. He is aware he means nothing.

    I don’t see Barky as anything but an idiot still in love with his “fame” and power, and wealth. He was never on his way to being a really good man, just a guy who wanted to be famous and got there through his own sense of how the corrupt political system works.

    Maybe we should compare him to an American anti-hero: Sinclair Lewis’ immoral, unethical Elmer Gantry.

  • mountainaires

    U.S. experts: Pakistan on course to become Islamist state

    Tuesday, Jun. 02, 2009
    Jonathan S. Landay – McClatchy Newspapers

    <blockquote>”It’s a disaster in the making on the scale of the Iranian revolution,” said a U.S. intelligence official with long experience in Pakistan who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

    WASHINGTON — A growing number of U.S. intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials have concluded that there’s little hope of preventing nuclear-armed Pakistan from disintegrating into fiefdoms controlled by Islamist warlords and terrorists, posing a greater threat to the U.S. than Afghanistan’s terrorist haven did before 9/11.

    “It’s a disaster in the making on the scale of the Iranian revolution,” said a U.S. intelligence official with long experience in Pakistan who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

    Pakistan’s fragmentation into warlord-run fiefdoms that host al Qaida and other terrorist groups would have grave implications for the security of its nuclear arsenal; for the U.S.-led effort to pacify Afghanistan; and for the security of India, the nearby oil-rich Persian Gulf and Central Asia, the U.S. and its allies.

    “Pakistan has 173 million people and 100 nuclear weapons, an army which is bigger than the American army, and the headquarters of al Qaida sitting in two-thirds of the country which the government does not control,” said David Kilcullen, a retired Australian army officer, a former State Department adviser and a counterinsurgency consultant to the Obama administration.

    “Pakistan isn’t Afghanistan, a backward, isolated, landlocked place that outsiders get interested in about once a century,” agreed the U.S. intelligence official. “It’s a developed state . . . (with) a major Indian Ocean port and ties to the outside world, especially the (Persian) Gulf, that Afghanistan and the Taliban never had.”

    More…

    http://www.thestate.com/166/story/811078.html

  • Lawyer from Missouri

    The title had me rolling. I was remembering the video. Someone needs to get it on Youtube and attach it.

  • David L.

    Actually, there were points at which Obama’s Egyptian audience did not cheer; very significant points:

    - When he declared that America “will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.”

    - When he stated that “we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children.”

    - When he acknowledged the plain truth that “it is my first duty as president to proMore sitect the American people.”

    - When he laid the atrocity of September 11, 2001, firmly at the feet of Al-Qaeda, rejecting the conspiracy theories that are articles of faith throughout the Middle East.

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23338.html

    “Stony silence” was the response to all of these statements, but that’s not news either; not to our besotted media.

    • Mary

      Well, the phrase “We reject….the killing of innocent men, women , and children” WAS an incredibly foolish thing to say.

      I immmediately thought of the Pakistani drones slaughtering families, and of the Palestinian families slaughtered by Israel in Gaza, while we sat twiddling our thumbs and blocked UN Resolutions calling for a ceasefire.

      Stony silence, indeed.

      Does Obama think his audience is too stupid to see the contradictions?

  • american

    So, ummm, would you rather he made a lousy speech? Or that he simply said nothing? I agree that real changes and actions are more important than speeches, but speeches in and of themselves are not bad, and this was a particularly good one. It remains to be seen whether it will be followed up by action but if a substantial part of the Arab Muslim world sees in Obama’s speech a shift in US attitude away from a “clash of civilizations” and toward a more thorough-going dialogue, that is a much needed thing.

    • Mary

      Read this very slowly: There were NO Iraqi’s or Iranians on the 9-11 planes. They were all Saudi Arabians and Egyptians and Moroccans.

      Do you think pandering to King Abdullah and Mubarak is going to make the Saudi Arabians or Egyptians who hate America propping up those dictators, consider Obama admitting he “came to get the king’s counsel” will make them believe he’s going to help their situation?

      You DO realize that Obama is now “outsourcing” much of the rendition and “questioning” to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, right?

      Good grief.

      • NomNomNom

        srsly

      • Patience

        Amen.

      • rw

        Isn’t he preaching to those that we already have a dialogue with…. A shift by one party does not avoid a “clash of civilizations”, Zawahiri and bin Laden reaffirmed their position even before Obama stepped off the plane.

        And as for Europe, which is having parliamentary elections: A continuing theme is the number of predictions in individual countries that radical far-right parties could make gains. Some reports have suggested that far-right, fringe and single-issue parties collectively could take up 150 of the 736 seats in the post-June 2009 European Parliament.

        Look at the results in Holland.

        • Mary

          Obama openly admitting he “came to get the king’s counsel” (as in king of Saudi Arabia) will only INFLAME Zawahiri and Bin Laden and Al Queda.

          But Obama needs Saudi Arabia & Abdullah to manage the Sunni countries for the Israeli/Palestinian issue.

          Zawahiri is Egyptian; Bin Laden is Saudi Arabian. Resentment of their own country’s leaders pandering to American presidents is one of their main motivations.

  • Seattle Moss

    This is a sad day!

    The Asia Times said Obama made a mistake by speaking in Cairo. “Why should the president of the United States address the ‘Muslim world?,” it asked. “What would happen if the leader of a big country addressed the ‘Christian world’? Half the world would giggle and the other half would sulk.”

    “To speak to the ‘Muslim world’ is to speak not to a fact, but rather to an aspiration,” the paper stated, “and that is the aspiration that Islam shall be a global state religion as its founders intended. To address this aspiration is to breathe life into it. For an American president to validate such an aspiration is madness.”

    Obama has now regulated Christianity to secondary status and has proclaimed Islam to be the moral authority.
    Considering that our country is built on Judeo-Christian principles and our society has a rich Enlish tradition we can now look forward to having our culture and very way of life changed
    To the victors go the spoils
    Thanks Obama!
    You have surrendered America and at the same time revealed to all of us the you are the first Muslim President of the United States…

    • Seattle Moss

      Should be
      Obama has now relegated Christianity to secondary status

      • http://noquarter foxyladi14

        indeed pityful jest pityful as gomer used to say..

    • Ellen D

      Interesting post, Seattle Moss. I seem to remember Larry pointing out that when the policy was changed in Iraq to address individual cultural groups, the US could make progress. It’s the old “Divide and Conquer” theory.

      It was demonstrated then that Islam may be a religion but people had a greater loyalty to their own ethnic group. Look at Christianity and all the ethnic groups that it encompasses.

      In that case you don’t unite the “Muslim World”, you break it into ethnic groups. The Iranians aren’t even Arabs so there is little sense lumping them in with them.

      Obama’s actions seem ass-backward to me.

  • EWard

    Larry

    Amen to your post!

  • Seattle Moss

    I ask you folks…

    What is the most revealing thing Obama has said or done which shows his real allegiances.
    For me

    The 57 States of America…

    How simple can it be….

  • vanroth

    Larry, that was just superb writing.

    There’s one thing that Obama’s handlers know. Put him in front of crowd and give him a mike and a teleprompter, the platitudes will come forth dazzling the crowd and the media will take care of the rest. This is the “speech” presidency. Tomorrow, he’ll be giving a “speech” on something else. The perpetual campaign, the calendar booked with town hall meetings and “speeches” that the country and the world should wait for with bated breath.

    The sole purpose of today’s show was the glorification of the man. That he, being so brilliant, wants the world to heed his sayings. Like it or not, believe it not, Bush said much of the same things at different times. He even went to a mosque and met with Islamic leaders soon after 9/11. This was a typical all hail the great, new American president photo op.

    Next stop is Brandenberg Gate. It was denied to him during the campaign but he has his eyes set on it and now that he’s in, he’ll get his wish. They must have already planned it out. He is the new JFK after all and they need another photo op for the history books. And it will be his big speech to Europe, nay to the world. Not bad for a man who could have well lost a democratic senate primary in Illinois a mere five years ago if his opponent’s divorce papers hadn’t mysteriously leaked out.

    When Ortega went on that diatribe against the US at that Latin America summit, the President laughed it off saying essentially, hey don’t blame me, I was only 4 years old when my country did all those “bad” things. It all has to come back to him eventually. He has to look good, damn the rest. When you want to look good at all costs, Mount Rushmore is his limit. The ultimate goal of the “speechifing” presidency.

    • Patience

      Not bad for a man who could have well lost a democratic senate primary in Illinois a mere five years ago if his opponent’s divorce papers hadn’t mysteriously leaked out.

      Priceless.

    • rw

      -When Ortega went on that diatribe against the US at that Latin America summit, the President laughed it off saying essentially, hey don’t blame me,-

      Yes, blame the US, don’t blame me.

      Chavez went missing for a few days after a televised speaking marathon of the usual bs he IS known for. According to him, there was a “CIA” plot to get him, the 29th, more or less, so he states. He straightforward said that he BLAMES THE EMPIRE NOT OBAMA.

  • ces

    One of these days, somebody needs to put up the Constitution on TOTUS, so oBlunder finally reads it…

    • tango

      But, but, but, the MSM tells me over and over, he’s a Constitutional scholar!!! You mean all those legal opinions and articles he’s authored and published don’t prove it?

      Snerk.

  • elise

    I don’t listen to his speeches anymore. You may think that is an unreasonable attitude and points to a closed mind. Not so. I know someone who never stops talking while I try to invent some excuse to move on. Obama talks too much. The words just fly out of his mouth and his speech writer no doubt spends hours putting the words together, just so, making sure they are arranged together to complement his audience and stroke his ego at the same moment.

    • Patience

      I agree. A sermon every day is too much religion for me.

    • Citizen70

      He’s overexposed and becoming quite the bore. I think more and more people are catching on to his machinations.

  • JJ

    I support King Hussein.

  • steel magnolia

    In old-school terms, what Obama is doing would be called a circle-jerk and I don’t want to be a participant.

  • http://www.thecancerblog.org/ Remi

    I agree. Obama talks too much. The words just fly out of his mouth and his speech writer no doubt spends hours putting the words together, just so, making sure they are arranged together to complement his audience and stroke his ego at the same moment.

  • http://www.lesstalkmoreactivism.blogspot.com whoframedrudy

    “That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
    And then is heard no more”

    … to God’s ears … to God’s ears.

  • Surfered

    In one of his rare, lucid moments, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld got it right. Success in the “war on terror” can be measured by whether the number of terrorists is increasing or decreasing. The invasion of Iraq and prisoner abuse increased the number of terrorists. Maybe President Obama’s speech will decrease the number of terrorists and that would be a good thing.

  • http://noquarter foxyladi14

    nothing totus say,s is going to change these people.they have been this way for centuries.

  • Chris Vosburg

    Faulkner also used part of this quote in his THE SOUND AND THE FURY,….

    Yeah, he did, jeez, you could wear yourself out producing titles of books, stories, and movies derived from Shakes.

    The Brief Candle, Walking Shadow, A Poor Player, His Hour Upon the Stage, etc., and on and on and on.

    And that’s only a handful from this brief soliliquy alone.

  • Chris Vosburg

    I perhaps mis-hit the post button, so again, I’ll point out that the Shakes quote is about life itself, not the participants. The game is the bunk to start with, Mac says, and realizes that here is no meaning, as he had once hoped, but only– nothing, and despair.

    Quite poignant, actually.