Shake A Hand
President Obama has come under some criticism for shaking hands with Hugo Chavez and warmly greeting him. I don't know how much time I should spend on these criticisms because they are all coming from politicians trying to score points with the base of their party. I would take the criticism more seriously if it came from real experts in foreign relations.
The only reason this is even news is because media outlets like conflict. The conflict is more important than the worth of the news. Newt Gingrich's comments are meant to provoke:
"Frankly, this does look a lot like Jimmy Carter. Carter tried weakness, and the world got tougher and tougher, because the predators, the aggressors, the anti-Americans, the dictators – when they sense weakness, they all start pushing ahead," Gingrich said on Fox & Friends.
"I think it sends a terrible signal to all of Latin America, and a terrible signal about how the new administration regards dictators," Gingrich said on Fox, also citing Obama’s willingness to talk to Iran, his handling of North Korea and overtures to the Castro government in Cuba. "I don’t think there’s any downside to talking to him. But I think being friends, taking a picture that clearly looks like they’re buddies hurts in all of Latin America."
This is hardly reasoned foreign policy analysis. This is run of the mill Republican Party pablum about how Democrats are weak. Gingrich would even have us believe that Obama's friendly handshake indicated a friendship. Dick Cheney (and others) also weighed in along similar lines. However, if Cheney thinks that what Obama is doing is wrong, then he must think the Bush Administration's approach is right. Yet, in the wake of the Bush presidency we don't have better relations with any country, let alone the ones that might wish us harm. As far as I know, neither Gingrich nor Cheney claim that our international relations improved during the Bush Administration. Their failure to do so merely indicates that they don't believe what they're saying and wish to score political points. In Cheney's case, he's attempting to defend himself. He should be fly fishing in Wyoming.
Oops, I digressed into critique. This is exactly what they want. Prominent republicans say a bunch of offensive nonsense knowing that it will be reported all over cable news and the internet. At some point, it will be claimed that the reporting on these foreign policy pronouncements was "filtered through a liberal bias". Even if that's true, it doesn't matter. What matters is that news organizations made the decisions to have these guys on their shows and then repeat it over and over again. Everybody wins. If there is any liberal bias, it's all the better for Republicans. They love liberal bias.
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