As of now, I am in control here in the White House

President Obama’s speech Tuesday night was much more than an announcement that combat operations in Iraq had come to an end. It was nothing less than the unveiling of The Obama Doctrine.

The major innovation of Obama Doctrine is frightening in that, unlike past presidential “doctrines,” it has little to do with national security and is a posture of premeditated weakness.

This is the Obama Doctrine: “Domestic policy is as important as national security policy to the defense of the United States.”

According to Obama, it’s no longer a case of guns or butter. It’s guns = butter.

In an age without surrender ceremonies, we must earn victory through the success of our partners and the strength of our own nation . . . Indeed, one of the lessons of our effort in Iraq is that American influence around the world is not a function of military force alone.  We must use all elements of our power – including our diplomacy, our economic strength, and the power of America’s example – to secure our interests and stand by our allies.

The concept laid out by Obama is a truly dangerous notion that suggests we can reduce our military commitments and spending and fight bad guys by strengthening our economy and providing a shining example to the world. At its core, it is a rationalization for withdrawing from the world militarily by a president who is a dove at heart and whose sole interest is in implementing his domestic agenda.

As the leader of the free world, America will do more than just defeat on the battlefield those who offer hatred and destruction – we will also lead among those who are willing to work together to expand freedom and opportunity for all people . . . Now, that effort must begin within our own borders.

We must, he suggests, make America better so that it can set an example to the world. He draws a clear equivalence between adopting favorable domestic policies – presumably his own – and military might.

And so at this moment, as we wind down the war in Iraq, we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy, and grit, and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad. They have met every test that they faced.  Now, it’s our turn.

This is our new model for conducting warfare. We won’t fight them on the beaches, on the landing grounds, in the fields and in the streets. Instead, we will fight them with a strong environmental policy.

This is pretty good news for America’s enemies.

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I’d like to mention two things tonight about President Obama’s prime time address.

1. His message to our enemies was clear: “I hate war, and you can be pretty sure I won’t fight another one.”

2. It is sorrowful to see that the president’s fingers were glued together and his jacket sleeves pasted to the desk before the speech. None of the gesticulating of his last Oval Office Address a few weeks ago. Much more of a go at gravitas. It looked like his thumbs were loose, though, and nearly started to wrestle with each other at a couple of points, which I found entertaining.

I’ll have a more careful and serious dissection of this unserious speech for you in the morning.

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I’m on vacation this week, and I’ll be eating lobsters, golfing, and figuring out new ways to be rude to Netanyahu, so I won’t have as much time to post. From now through Labor Day, I’ll probably do only one or two posts a day. Unless I get angry about something, in which case there may be multiple posts.

After Labor Day we’ll be back at full speed with hopefully some new features too. I hope you are getting some time off this summer as well. And thanks for reading.

Keith

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Of course not.

The Obamas have landed at the Beach Plum Inn for dinner. Not exactly your average hot dog stand. From the website:

With panoramic views from every table, patrons gaze at the passing ships, cresting waves and iridescent setting sun . . .  Ranked as best restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard and Top Six in New England by Food and Wine Magazine, the Beach Plum Inn Restaurant is also an Island hot spot. Featuring classical regional cuisine with an island flair, Executive Chef James McDonough prepares daily culinary works of art from the fresh native Atlantic seafood, aged beef and free-ranged chicken among other delights.

Glad to know the chickens can walk around before Chef McDonough wrings their necks.

I took a look at the menu. Here’s what I think the Obamas went for.

Steamed Twin Local Lobsters $39
With potatoes, vegetable du jour, and drawn butter

LOBSTER! Two of them on one plate. With butter to goose the cholesterol content. I hope this restaurateur is as big an idiot as the one the other night at the State Road Restaurant who spilled the beans on what the Obamas ordered AFTER BEING ASKED NOT TO.  Maybe they figured this being the openness administration and all, nobody would mind.

Well, if the Obamas go to the State Road Restaurant next year, I’ll eat my computer. Really, I will.

Here’s the lovely Beach Plum Inn.

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