2) If you thing Chavez, Putin, Kim, Amendijad etc aren't going right ahead with their plans while gladhanding Pres. Obama in pubilc you are sadly mistaken.There are a few problems with this. First of all, Putin, while he might be whispering advice into Medvedev's ear, is not the leader of Russia. Chavez doesn't really present any significant foreign policy problems other than for the purposes of being a pain in the ass on the world stage and a bugbear to the American right. Which gets us into Kim (who might be in failing health) and Ahmedinejad (who is not in charge of Iran but acts as the figurehead for a bunch of mullahs who's hold to power is not going unchallenged by a popular and clerical revolt). If you haven't noticed, Obama's recent moves have made Russia more inclined to side with us against Iran. So we at least have one potentially major change in the foreign policy arena coming our way since Obama took office less than a year ago. If you want to diminish the importance of that, go ahead. But why you might want to do so? I can't figure out a reason for that other than hyperpartisanship (aka "gladhanding" the GOP).

by Jack 03:21:44 AM 2015.10.11