Euphonic Brew

Obama will cut you.

squashed:

Apparently a few foreign leaders took Obama’s promises of hope and change as a sign of potential weakness.

Hugo Chavez has been telling Obama what to do. Obama’s campaign responded essentially by telling Chavez that maybe he should focus on respecting human rights for a while.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker said earlier, “Obama must know that the change that he talks about is not simply a superficial changing of colors or tactics. What is expected is a change in strategy, not the repetition of objections to Iran’s nuclear program, which will be taking a step in the wrong direction.” Obama pointed out that he wasn’t President yet.

On Wednesday, Russia’s President Medvedev threatened to move nuclear missiles closer to Poland’s border. Apparently he later talked with Obama on the phone and they agreed to an early bilateral meeting.

Within a few days of Obama’s election, all the usual suspects are emerging. Now, it may be that everybody just wants to congratulate Obama—because even if you’re leading one of the U.S.’s least favored nations, you still have to think he’s a pretty cool guy. But I think it’s more likely that they’re trying to test the waters. Is the guy a wimp? It’s sort of like people in a prison yard trying to test out the new guy.

I could save them a lot of trouble. Obama is not a wimp. He doesn’t like drama and unnecessary conflict because it wastes his time and energy. But this is a man who took on the Chicago political machine, Hillary Clinton, and then the Republicans. He’s not afraid of chubby Venezuelan dictators. And he’s good at what he does. A bit of bluster won’t bait him into doing something rash—but if you cause an international incident that takes away time he’d planned to spend with his daughters … you won’t like him when he’s serious.