The Big Show In Cairo

Well, Obama gave his big speech in Cairo. So far it looks like the usual suspects are impressed…the state-run media and the academics. Meanwhile, Israel, American conservatives and Muslim extremists are not so enamored. The Rightists in Israel are putting out a new poster that you see here. Rather extreme, but I don’t blame them for being fearful.

The part about the Palestinian state is what gets my goat. Yes, everybody is for a two-state solution, except for one very important party…the Palestinians! They turned down the offer in 1999 because they will only accept a one-state solution which would involve the total destruction of Israel. Why can’t anyone get this?

Meanwhile, there was this statement:

Conservative critics seized on a passage in which he said: “Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners of it. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; progress must be shared.”

Hard to get too worked up about this, because it’s nothing new. This was a view held by many of the Foggy Bottom wonks in the Clinton administration. Many believe it would be a better world if many countries had nukes rather than just the United States which was part of the reason the Clintons sold missile technology to the Chinese. It’s also believed by some that democracy is no better than any other system…it’s all relative. Yes, Postmodernism is back, in a big way.

UPDATE: Great minds think alike. Victor Davis Hanson on Obama’s postmodernism.