Inkless Wells

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Mr. Congeniality

by Paul Wells on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 3:51pm - 5 Comments

Joe Biden travels to Warsaw and has the government there — which had been furious at the Obama government for amending (not cancelling) the Bush missile-defence plan without properly notifying its Polish and Czech allies — eating out of his hand. The U.S. vice-president even spent two hours chatting with Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president and a political opponent of the country’s parliamentary government. This kind of laying-on-of-hands shows, not for the first time, why Biden was a good veep pick; the fact that he had to travel to the region to address growing uncertainty there over American intentions for the region shows clumsiness at the White House. Still, a problem that can be fixed this easily is a rare luxury for any government.

Tags: Barack Obama, Czech, Joe Biden, Lech Kaczynski, Poland

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http://intensedebate.com/people/robert_mccl6309 Robert McClelland

On a somewhat related note. Did Cannon get a chance to scold Gaddafi during his visit to Libya?
Orson Bean

I find it interesting that the American far-right, Fox News, Limbaugh et al. thought that they had an easy target when Biden's nomination was announced. Those folks tried hard to attack him for "gaffes" & all that, but I think Biden's basic experience and competence (esp. in foreign affairs and defence matters) has meant that El Rushbo et al. have been barking up the wrong tree there. I think it's a similar situation with Hillary Clinton at State. To this point, Biden & Hillary have been good choices. Not so with that "Green Czar", unfortunately . . .
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Still, a problem that can be fixed this easily is a rare luxury for any government.

Abdication of responsibility towards your new friends that can be "fixed" as easily as a pandering pat on the head. Nice. Maybe THAT's the sort of thing that earns you a Nobel Peace Prize these days.
Lord Kitchener's Own

Abdication of responsibility???

He GUARANTEED Poland's security. He used the word ABSOLUTE twice in one sentence. He said the commitment was unwavering and "inviolable".

Fine, the Obama administration is replacing a missile defense system that has NEVER worked (not even in unrealistic tests) and which was designed to shoot down long-range missiles no one's ever going to fire, with a short to medium range defense system that actually works, and is designed to shoot down missiles someone might actually fire someday.

If only every nation could be so "abandoned".
Orson Bean

I guess I agree with you, to the extent that this ain't exactly the equivalent of Churchill selling the Poles down the river to Stalin . . .