8/19/2017—I hear all the time about how Donald Trump was going to rebuild the military and restore respect for America with his more muscular views. Compared to Trump, President Obama was said to be a wimp. This view was repeated today in a column by Bret Stephens (who was ruing the deal with the devil that conservative Jews made to embrace Trump for such reasons).
But in another story today, we see what real national decline looks like. Prime Minister Abe of Japan has reportedly decided to strengthen ties with Japan and join China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure project in Asia.
This of course follows Japan’s effort to keep President Obama’s Trans Pacific Partnership, which Trump abandoned.
President Obama was a cautious man. He presided over a country so divided that he knew Congress would not support him in more or less whatever he did. Unlike Trump, Obama usually did not promise more than he could deliver—Syrian chemicals weapons was the exception.
Obama’s caution and reserve was always seen as weakness—and, since perception is reality in part, it was weakness. But what we now see is that national decline is a real thing, not just a matter of perception. The policies that Trump was elected to enact—anti-trade, anti-immigration and anti-globalization and to an extent anti-diversity—are weakening American influence all over the world. The personal trait of blustering emptiness—see the military threats that are pretty unreal versus North Korea—that some Americans so admire are guaranteed to hurt the country.
Obama’s dignity and personal appeal turn out to be one of the best assets our country had. His intelligent long-term thinking maximized our country’s opportunities. His Iranian deal was the best protection Israel could have gotten. Too many Americans just did not appreciate him.
Now we see what a weak President actually looks like.
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