Redacted

Smith, of course, keys on the fact that RT is an arm of Russia’s state-owned media.  (It’s channel 236 on Time Warner Cable in my area.)

But that tends to be indicative in more ways than one.  Looking at the older ads RT has lined up for inspection at the link above, one has the sense of a Soviet-era zeitgeist unrecovered from.  The images are clunky and unsubtle, the kind of political snark American 14-year-olds would outdo from their home computers, in both sophistication and humor.  As would French, Japanese, Brazilian, and no doubt Russian 14-year-olds, for that matter.  Subversive political art just doesn’t work as an expression of state policy.  To come across as subversive, it has to be really, you know, subversive.  It helps if it’s a little funny too, or if it at least slips in a sly, mentally interesting irony.

Now, it is funny that President Obama, whose American critics would say he has never met a Russian demand he didn’t want to give in to, comes in for this over-the-top, back-of-the-hand ankle-biting. (I promise those will be the last locutions evocative of yoga class.)  I don’t think that’s the humor the RT ad had in mind.

I suppose we could also attribute a high-concept postulate to the RT auteurs, that Obama is more dangerous than Ahmadinejad because he’s fey and unpredictable, as opposed to embodying Ahmadinejad’s other characteristic of shrill aggression.  The sort of “Well, with Nixon we at least knew where we stood” kind of thing.  Then Jimmy Carter burst forth from that turgid time, and America was all over the map like an old geezer with Alzheimer’s, handed the keys to the Ferrari.

But neither of those qualifies as a mentally interesting irony.  Your call, reader, as to the precise nature of the intended implications in the RT ad.  It comes off to me as subversive imagery by committee.  And then RT couldn’t even get American airports to display it in its original form.  Come on, guys.  Get yourselves some leverage on US soil – buy it if you have to – and sue in federal court.  That’s what artist Michael Lebron did when the Washington, D.C. Metro declined to display his anti-Reagan oeuvre entitled “Are You Tired of the Jelly Bean Republic?”  As the New York Times recounts – with obvious relish – a federal appeals court consisting of Ken Starr, Antonin Scalia, and Robert Bork ruled in 1984 that the Metro could not refuse to display Lebron’s poster.

It’s reassuring, in a way, that RT doesn’t bring the attempted subversion off any more effectively than the Grey Lady or CNN would.  RIA Novosti as a whole (the holding company for the state-owned media) seems to be an experiment in combining the functions of MSNBC, USA Today, The National Enquirer, and The Onion.  I would award it high marks in the Enquirer line, myself.

But there’s a starting point you have to have stored in your tribal consciousness to really move forward in this realm, and I’m not sure the deep thinkers at RT know what it is.  The NYT writer crowing over the Lebron case would apparently have to be reminded of it.  You see, when Michael Lebron sued the Washington Metro to display his anti-Reagan poster, and Starr, Scalia, and Bork ruled in his favor, what mattered in all this was the following:

1.  Although the criticism was directed at him, Reagan had no involvement whatsoever in the court’s decision; and

2.  He didn’t care.

That, dear Russian friends, is freedom of speech.

Cross-posted at The Optimistic Conservative.

If the Sunday Times story is true — if Russian scientists and engineers are indeed helping to create the mullahs’ doomsday weapons — that means the West was wrong to assume that a nuclear-armed Iran runs counter to Russia’s national interest. It means our intelligence-collection efforts in Iran and Russia have been a massive failure. It means that Russia cannot be a bona fide partner in stopping the Iranian nuclear effort. Indeed, it means that Moscow is following [a] geopolitical agenda aimed at thoroughly destroying U.S. influence in the Middle East.

“Are Russian Scientists Aiding Iran’s Nuclear Program?” – Ariel Cohen – The Corner on National Review Online.

Let’s start at the very beginning…

Sunday.  I went to Church twice.  Oh, sorry: this isn’t about that. Sunday…

OK, maybe I should start with today and work backwards.  Today, Friday, we find out that Michelle Obama’s yen to do some grocery shopping cost the taxpayers about a jillion dollars, but more importantly, is single-handedly responsible for raising the earth’s temperature by six degrees fahrenheit and completely indundating all coastal cities.  Her reaction on finding out that New Orleans was once again under water: “Maybe they can strap on some organic beignets and float outta there…”  But the vegetable garden at the WH is “one of the best things I’ve done in my life so far.”  Alrighty then.

Thursday: Started early for Donald Tusk, Poland’s president.  He got the middle of the night call to let him know that Barry wasn’t going to honor the agreement between Poland and the US to place the missile shield in Poland, or indeed, on any dry land (there won’t be any after Big Footprint gets done shopping.)  And the official announcement would be made just a few short hours later.  And for extra-extra smart diplomacy, this all took place on the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union.  Why he couldn’t have waited a few short months for the 70th anniversary of this landmark of Polish-Russian relations, I couldn’t tell you.  And, let’s not forget the Czech Republic.

Wednesday: Was it Wednesday that BigGovernment.com came out with the San Diego installments of the Great Acorn I-Can’t-Believe-These-People-Are-This-Stupid sting?  It’s like a reality TV show.  My favorite part of the San Diego one was where the “lawyer” from Mexico was pricing out Hannah Giles services.  I’ll give this to him- he spoke English better than the gals in Baltimore and Washington.  No assimilation issues here!

Wednesday Follow-up: it’s just fun reading or listening to Bertha Lewis’s upset about the sting.  It’s just fun.  And when she says, ” We are not going to take this lying down. We believe that — in fact, we know, that this was a form of entrapment. And, yes, we’re going to go after this videographer and FOX” it’s just entertainment of the purest sort, especially after both the House and the Senate voted to cut off various forms of government funding to ACORN.    What she really means is, “I can’t believe that any employee of mine wouldn’t know that a white dude who looks like a Keebler Elf and says “fricking” couldn’t possible be a homie.“

Jon Stewart weighs in:

Tuesday was light saber day at the White House.  Jim Treacher, take it away!  A true dorkfest, but plenty of “What Not To Wear,” uh, “Brandish,” uh, “Pick” moments!

Monday: The San Bernardino Acorn Sting.  Trese is your standard issue whack job whose hero is Heidi Fleiss.  She’s been watching way too many Charlie’s Angels, Farrah Fawcett reruns.  Great ta-ta’s, though.

On Healthcare, Michelle is doing her level best to ring the cowbell for Barry.  Check out this video  and try to suppress the urge to hand her a tissue (no, she’s not crying she just can’t get with the Sebelius Sleeve Maneuver.)  But check out the outfit and ponder similarities to this.  For what it’s worth, I think Michelle is a better public speaker than BO.

Sunday: Who can remember back that far?  Oh, yeah: was it Sunday Monday that Mr. Former President 40 Years Past His Sell-by Date [CK want me to warn you all of unpleasant content: this is a video of Jimmy Carter] spoke up about racism in America?  Jonah Goldberg:

… I think the abominable circumstance is the Vesuvian eruption of nonsense belched forth from distempered liberals frustrated by their inability to win a public-policy debate.

An “overwhelming proportion” of the vocal opposition to Obama stems from the “inherent feeling” that “an African-American should not be president,” testifies the de facto voice of Southern self-loathing and pharisaical pomposity.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say Jonah was a little testy.

Jihad Watch: another one bites the dust.  Woo hoo!

Iran Watch: very big demos in Tehran.  Maybe even bigger than the 9/12 Tea Party in Washington, D.C.  Sistani is getting into the act to condemn the leadership. And the excellent J.E.D. has her take here, with links.

And a couple of fantastic feasts for the eyes: like clockwork, and The Old Country. Enjoy, and Shana Tovah, y’all!

The Obama administration has an opportunity to turn its decision — which so far seems tentative and even reluctant — into a unilateral display of U.S. strength and confidence, and thereby seize the high ground on arms reduction while warning one of the world’s most recalcitrant proliferators that the game will soon be over. Hopefully, this is an opportunity the president and his advisers will seize.

“Obama Made the Right Decision on Missile Defense” – Tom Nichols – The Corner on National Review Online.

Looks like Nile Gardiner had the same reaction I did.  But it sounds better with a British accent- the word “appalling” is especially excellent brilliant in Brit.

This is bad news for all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defence of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. A deal with the Russians to cancel missile defence installations sends a clear message that even Washington can be intimidated by the Russian bear.

And, let us point out, that America won’t get the Russians to heel on the Iran issue.  They know a compromised president when they see one, and I’ll say it again: they know who funded his law school.  They have all of his transcripts.  They know who his friends are and what they’ve been up to and where they’ve traveled.  If we knew what they know, Barry would never have been a viable candidate for public office, except maybe from Oakland or something.

And, I just have a theoretical question: if short range and medium range missiles are the real problem, how are we going to address that?  Oh, I know: we’re going to help Israel, right?

Eight years ago George W. Bush called out Iran as one of the threesome “Axis of Evil.”  Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism.  Iran is going nuclear as we speak.  In what has become typical of Obama and symptomatic of his “world as dialectic” formula for doing practically everything in foreign policy (Afghanistan is the big exception, a real fluke) he has decided to take the one-dimensional slogans that pass for reasoned critiques of Bush in the lefty cocktail party circuit and do the opposite.  If Bush doesn’t “engage,” i.e. talk endlessly, nicely, respectfully, then Obama will beg, scrape, and flatter just to get the Iranians to talk.  Just talk.  Many observers thought at the time of the Iranian elections, when all hell was breaking loose over the flagrant fraud, Obama’s hesitance to speak out and object had to do with his fear that he would endanger the “talks.”  Now, it appears that he may have actually emboldened the Iranians to brutally put down their own citizens because they had hard evidence that Obama wanted to talk above all else- he wanted face-to-face dialogue at any price and would accept any provocation and insult rather than endanger the possibility of “talks.”  From David Ignatius, via Jennifer Rubin at Contentions:

One Iranian political figure has told a Western intermediary that the Obama administration may have unwittingly encouraged the regime’s power grab by sending two letters to Khamenei before the June election. The first, delivered through Iran’s mission to the United Nations, was a general invitation to dialogue. Khamenei is said to have taken a month to answer, and then only in vague terms. A second Obama administration letter reiterated U.S. interest in engagement. According to the Iranian political figure, this may have emboldened Khamenei and Ahmadinejad to think they had a free hand on June 12.

And, if that’s not enough:  More evidence that Iran is meddling in Afghanistan, supporting the Taliban against our soldiers and the coalition troops.

And, if that’s not enough: Obama’s deadline of mid-September for serious answers to Iran’s nuclear intentions is getting the Big Yawn treatment from Tehran.  Ho hum.  Ahmadinejad is terribly busy helping Hugo acquire weaponry and nuclear technology and can’t be bothered with The One’s petitions.  But not to worry: Venezuela isn’t a threat.

Israel is going to take matters into its own hands- hoping that Russia will decide to stop the shipment of anti-aircraft weaponry to Iran so that an airstrike will be feasible.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rumored to have gone to Russia secretly to press the Russians on that very issue.

Our foreign policy is in a complete shambles and Obama is busy with the dog-and-pony shows about the “crisis” that even he admits isn’t a crisis.  Meanwhile, the economy is stagnant, employment will top 10%, American soldiers are being killed by Iranian weapons, democrats in Iran and Honduras are being actively subverted by Obama and the world’s tyrants are sleeping better at night knowing that America is being led by a naive, narrow, weak man.

PS.  Apparently Hillary has had enough.  Imagine being the In-Name-Only head of this colossal, embarrassing, dangerous mess.  Westchester County Animal Control Chief would be a career advance at this point.

Update: I love Michael Ledeen (on Iran, not in person).  From NRO:

“Ahmadinejad to be barred from NY event” al-AP tells us. It’s Obama’s party, and Mahmoud is “unlikely to receive an invitation,” according to the White House.

“Why?” you might ask. Because the Iranians are killing Americans and holding American hostages? Wrong. Because the Iranians are meddling in countries from Yemen to Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon? Wrong again. Because the Iranians are the world’s preeminent sponsors of international terrorism? No way.

It’s because “Iran is failing to live up to its international obligations.” So sayeth Robert Gibbs.

You just can’t invent these guys.

Considering that Biden was brought in by Ø for his foreign policy gravitas as well as him being by definition the one person who couldn’t overshadow Ø, Ø may want to go back and slap  Jim Johnson, Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder several times, very hard. Given that Biden was Ø’s first major executive decision it makes one cringe to think that any of his subsequent ones will turn out as well. And to think, these are the guys that claimed GWB’s foreign policy was rife with incompetence. In between walking back the cat on this one and photoshopping some nice Ukranian models into compromising positions with the Hairplugged one, maybe they can make nice and give Putin and Medvedev new IPhones.

Whether on Georgia, missile defense, or other issues, Putin may have read something in his eyes that Obama didn’t know was there, as Russian bombers uncharacteristically buzzed Alaska during the summit.

Is she saying that Obama is leading us to Cold War 2 – or, from Norman Podhoretz’s view, WW5?  The trouble is that we can’t challenge Ms. Dyer at Contentions.

Long live Zombie Contentions!