The MSM infatuation with Barack Obama is rapidly descending from farce into tragedy. A free press is one of the most crucial elements of any democracy and ours is failing miserably at its job of holding the powerful accountable. While there have been some reasonably well considered defenses of Barack Obama's diffidence toward the Iranian Mullahs (though even his most committed defenders must admit that reiterating our invitation to Iranian diplomats to join us for our traditional July 4th celebrations transgresses good taste at a minimum), Helene Cooper's discernment of a stealth Obama effect in Iran is quite remarkable in its inanity:
Exploring Iran’s Unrest and the Obama Factor
WASHINGTON — Could there be something to all the talk of an Obama effect, after all? A stealth effect, perhaps?
As the silent protests in Tehran dominated television screens around the world last week, a peculiar debate in Washington erupted. On one side, a handful of supporters of President Bush said Iranian protesters had taken to the streets because they were emboldened by President Bush’s pro-democracy stance, and the example of Shiite democracy he set up in Iraq. On the other side, some of President Obama’s backers countered that the mere election of Barack Obama in the United States had galvanized reformers in Iran to demand change.
Consider Caroline Glick unpersuaded:
But as Cooper sees it, the protesters owe their ability to oppose the regime that just stole their votes and has trampled their basic human rights for 30 years to Obama and the so-called "Obama effect." Offering no evidence for her thesis, and ignoring a public record filled with evidence to the contrary, Cooper claims that it is due to Obama's willingness to accept the legitimacy of Iran's clerical tyranny that the protesters feel emboldened to oppose their regime. If it hadn't been for Obama, and his embrace of appeasement as his central guiding principle for contending with the likes of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, as far as Cooper is concerned, the people on the streets would never have come out to protest.
Please read all of her article since her focus is on the failure of the American Media to do its job and the dire consequences of such dereliction of duty. However, in her conclusion I wonder if she doesn't approach an understanding of the real Obama effect:
Obama and his media flacks would have us believe that by speaking of American values and by distinguishing friend from foe, former president George W. Bush raised the hackles of the world against America. Perhaps there is some truth to this assertion. Perhaps there isn't.
What they fail to consider is that by genuflecting to tyrants, Obama has made the US an international laughingstock. Far from sharing their adulation of Obama and his cool demeanor, most of the nations of the world believe that the US has abandoned its leadership role. And unlike the US media, they realize that America has no understudy.
Unfortunately, unless the Obama effect wears off soon, by the time the American people become aware of this fact it may be too late to make a difference.
Is there a reverse Obama effect at work?
It is always difficult, perhaps impossible, to assign percentages to all the contributions to events. Perhaps the example of Iraqi and Afghan democracy added 15% to the popular discontent. Perhaps the price of gas in Tehran and the unemployment rate added 22%. Add in 18% from the feelings of betrayal, with a vote offered by the Mullahs and then withdrawn. How about an additional 15% because of the high handed and humiliating way in which the wishes of the people were denied. That gives us 70% of the cause for the uprising. The exercise illustrates its futility and lack of seriousness. Theories of human action are a very long way from being able to predict events, even retrospectively. Which leaves us with impressionistic, intuitive reactions and with the words of the participants.
In an interview with John Roberts of CNN, an Iranian protester had this to say to the international community:
Mohammad: Excuse me, sir. I have a message for the international community. Would you please let me tell it?
Roberts: Yes, go ahead.
Mohammad: Americans, European Union, international community, this government is not definitely — is definitely not elected by the majority of Iranians. So it’s illegal. Do not recognize it. Stop trading with them. Impose much more sanctions against them. My message…to the international community, especially I’m addressing President Obama directly – how can a government that doesn’t recognize its people’s rights and represses them brutally and mercilessly have nuclear activities? This government is a huge threat to global peace. Will a wise man give a sharp dagger to an insane person? We need your help international community. Don’t leave us alone.
Chetry: Mohammad, what do you think the international community should do besides sanctions?
Mohammad: Actually, this regime is really dependent on importing gasoline. More than 85% of Iran’s gasoline is imported from foreign countries. I think international communities must sanction exporting gasoline to Iran and that might shut down the government.
The Iranian protesters, the Israelis, the Europeans, the Iraqis may all be in the process of recognizing an unintended Obama effect. Perhaps the Obama effect emerges from the apparent abdication of international responsibility that seems to be an ideological conviction of the Obama administration. If Obama truly believes that most of the world's ills have been the result of American transgressions, that America is the cause of all the problems of the Middle East and the primary cause of the enmity of our enemies, then a passive, noninterventionist foreign policy is the likely outcome. As people and governments around the world realize that their futures will not be shaped or insured by an imperfect Pax Americana, the light of realization will dawn on many people, the oppressed and the vulnerable as well as the thug and the tyrant, that they are on their own. The United States will not use its considerable international heft to make tyrants uncomfortable. We will make no distinctions between those with the guns and truncheons and those whose only weapons are the green ribbons on their fingers.
It has always been true that if Iran were to throw off the yoke of the Mullahs, it would be because the Iranian people became willing enough, or desperate enough, to face the bullets unarmed. The West can only offer marginal assistance, though sometimes that is enough. Now, the message for anyone threatened by thugs and tyrants must be that you are on your own. That can either empower the Iranians or lead to greater despair. That is the Obama effect.
Update: apparently the White House is suggesting, sotto voce, that Obama's Cairo speech has inspired the young in Iran. Perhaps Helene Coopers' article was a trial balloon to see how such a meme would fare. Ed Morrissey is not amused:
White House: Cairo speech inspired the Iran uprising
This is the most despicable, self-serving, and arrogant spin I’ve seen yet from this White House, and that’s saying something. Obama gave a speech, and suddenly the people of Iran discovered that they’re being ruled by tyrants? Never mind that two weeks passed between the speech and the uprising, and that the very obvious trigger for the unrest was the incompetent manner in which the mullahs rigged the election for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Never mind the fact that this President took a full week to even sound like a watered-down Nicolas Sarkozy, let alone the leader of the free world.
Read the whole thing.
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