Thursday, June 10, 2010

Kicking...or Kissing?

Recently, President Obama said he was going to Wall Street to find asses to kick due to the Gulf Coast oil spill. Tough talk, to be sure, but I'm not convinced given other "tough talk" Obama's utilized in the past.

Take, for example, Obama's comments after the recent UN sanctions against Iran. Even though the sanctions were watered down by China and Russia, Obama still came out and tried to portray them as tough sanctions while at the same time trying to convey to the Iranian people that the sanctions weren't really against them. That was, at best, milquetoast. And when you consider that Iran mocked the sanctions shortly after they were approved? Let's just say Obama doesn't exactly come out as looking like a strong leader.

Then, there are Obama's comments about Israel. Obama has talked tough about Israel, one of our staunchest allies in the Middle East, regarding the recent incident involving a flotilla and alleged humanitarian aid ships heading for Gaza. What did Israel do? Ignored Obama's tough talk, citing self-preservation as central to Israel's continued actions.

When Obama talks tough, the world doesn't seem to listen. So, when Obama goes to Wall Street, does anyone think they'll be scared? I don't. If anything, Obama may want to show a bit more deference to Wall Street for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that he'll need Wall Street's help to rebuild the economy. But the biggest reason?

Obama's suckled at the teat of Wall Street, and they won't forget that.

No comments: