Merkel gave a brilliant address to the Congress. It was on cspan. She mentioned both Bushies, Reagan, and JFK. She paid tribute to our greco roman, judeo christian, western system. She talked about the right to live by one's values and religion, but always placing individual freedom first. She talked about the need to protect Israel. She talked about how Iran should not get the bomb. This is the speech he should give. Instead, he is pursuing an anti american anti western foreign policy. He won't go to the berlin celebrations of the wall coming down. He cancels the protection for our eastern european allies. Why? Because he likes Russians because they used to be commies and because they still don't like us. So he likes them. He refuses to meet with the Dalai lama. (I can't get over this one. Who refuses to meet with the dalai lama? No civilized nation) Why? Because he likes the Chinese that hate the Dalai Lama. In every way he follows a policy inimical to the US and the west and to real liberalism. It now seems like he wants Iran to get the bomb. Clinton travels the world helping our enemies, bringing confusion and misery to our allies. The WA Post of all papers had a piece by an iranian reformer who won the noble peace prize. by showing a smile to Iran, Bam is getting people like her imprisoned or worse. this women unlike bam deserved her prize. She has been locked up and threatened, her family threatened. Yet she perseveres. Bam should be ashamed of himself. Yet he goes around smiling.

Assuming "Bam" is used to refer to our president, Obama, and not the author, Applebaum, I'd have to say this represents a very distorted, simplistic, and disingenuous view of current foreign policy reflective of elements in the extremist far-right.

Tom Teepen wrote a piece debunking the "crazy world" of Republican propaganda and paranoia not too long ago. Yep, here it is:

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By the way, why should anyone need to protect Israel, the fourth greatest military might in the world, with their own arsenal of 200-300 nukes? And how is it that the U.S. skirts its own laws prohibiting aid to nations, like Israel, not signatory or non-abiding to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty? BTW, where is there any credible threat to Israel other than their own intransigence? Merkel makes noises about protecting Israel because of a collective guilt and as a way to show Germany should no longer to be feared. Here in the U.S., politicians make the same noises in an attempt to retain or win over the Jewish vote, or fill campaign chests with booty from AIPAC. Then, too, you have the delusional evangelicals here looking to protect Israel only so they can enjoy Armageddon; a faction generally considered part of the Republican base. You have to wonder how the Israeli's feel about that kind of support.

Wake up and get a clue--don't let your ideology blind you and compromise your ability to think critically and independently.