Give Nuance a Chance !!

In a saner world – a world where the good guys are the good guys and the bad guys are the enemies – Europe and the United States would be eradicating these third world pirates from the world’s oceans. These are the days when even the most ardent supporter of Obama is wishing that Ronald Reagan or George Bush could be president for, say, forty-eight hours. Don’t expect anything more than lip service and harsh words for the pirates. The only thing that would merit a response from Mr. Obama is if he was absolutely sure that soft action (a la Jimmy Carter) would kill him in the opinion polls. Bill Clinton was famous for putting on a tough show when the numbers were against his principles (the aspirin factory in Iraq). He was also famous for cutting and running as he did in Mogadishu (hmmm, that’s in Somalia too).

John Kerry, in his failed attempt to win the presidency, used to actually criticize President Bush’s foreign policy as lacking in nuance. That’s correct. I still wonder precisely what he meant. I guess it means, a little diplomacy, a little bluffing and very little gunpowder. The problem is that nuance with terrorists and pirates is like nuance with children – it doesn’t work. Say what you mean and do what you say is the only thing that works. Ask Ronald Reagan. Ask John Kennedy. Ask Harry Truman.

We live with Americans – hopefully just a loud minority- that truly believe that we can cajole the world into peace by talking softly, handing out iPods and apologizing for America. We can even say we are no longer a Christian nation anymore…c’mon, “PLEASE LIKE US, WE”LL SELL OUT ON ANYTHING.”

In actuality, Muslims do not hate us because we are Christian. They never attack the Vatican. They never blow up Baptist churches. They blow up France and Spain all of the time. They hate us because they believe us to have no values. Whether it is our movies, our greed or our dress code – this is what they oppose. Too bad for them! But, don’t apologize for founding a country on Christ and Judeo-Christian values, especially during Holy Week.

Nothing causes a president to lose popularity faster than ‘nuance’ in foreign policy. Let’s hope that this is the beginning of the end for the soft-spined Obama. Let’s just hope that no one else gets hurt.

Submitted by D. B. Jackson