Speak for yourself, Barack

The Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, Art Buchwald, by way of preface to a collection of articles written during the Nixon years, made the following observation: ‘Watergate gave me three years of material the likes of which I may never see again...Truth be told, I needed Richard Nixon far more than he needed me.’

I am sure Art wrote because he loved writing and that would have been reward enough. He also got paid. Paid well, that is. All told, he may be right. Nixon provided material and Art gave him beans. In the process, he made his fellow citizens laugh. He educated them too. Those must have been good years for him.

I’ve written a lot about the current President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. I could say ‘he provided material the likes of which I may never see again’ (i.e. when he’s no longer President), but I doubt it. US Presidents from Nixon to Obama have been material-providers to columnists, Jimmy Carter being the exception, other than in his last days when he got tangled up trying to rescue hostages in Iran. It is not something I like. I mean, I wish I didn’t have to write about these people and the wicked things they do. And it is not as though I am earning anything like what Art did or that I would had I been endowed with a fraction of his skills.

History poses challenges

I thought I had written enough about Obama but the man keeps needling me. A couple of days ago, responding to criticism about bombing Libya, Obama sought to outline ‘a standard for civilized multilateralism,’ we are told. This is what he said: ‘Sometimes, the course of history poses challenges that threaten our common humanity and common security. Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well; to work with allies and partners ... to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all. If you should act, act where you can, and act together.’

The gumption!

He uses the word ‘common’ carelessly. What’s ‘common’ about the USA securing resources and markets? What’s ‘common’ about boosting weapons sales and keeping the mainstay of the US economy afloat? What’s ‘common’ about US consumers not having to pay US $ 10.00 or more for a gallon of gasoline? What does ‘common humanity’ mean to the victims of ‘civilized multilateralism’ a la Obama, i.e. the dead, maimed, displaced and distraught in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Libya? What’s ‘common’ about the entire planet having to pay so that US Americans can enjoy lifestyles that require continued devastation of the environment? What’s ‘common’ about a nation armed to its teeth with nuclear warheads and biological weapons telling other countries ‘no, no’ when they want to develop nuclear plants for peaceful purposes?

US Security Council

What is the ‘common security’ that Obama-style ‘civilized multilateralism’ has provided? Is the world more secure now than when Dubya Bush was calling the shots? Has anything become more secure other than a market for US weapons and other goods and services and channels of resource extraction and labour exploitation?

Obama talks about coalitions. He talks about ‘real leadership’. Let’s talk about leaders and coalitions. I am thinking in threes here. Hitler, Mussolini and Franco. Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy. Dubya Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac. Maybe I should think in quartets, throwing in the relevant Israeli leader. Perhaps I should add the supposed ‘enemy’, the former pals turned bad-guys like Saddam Hussein, Manuel Noreiga, Osama bin Laden, the Mujahideen etc. But I am thinking of the US Security Council, the permanent members, the arm-twisting, the manufacturing of consent and the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ (yes, willing to slaughter, deprive, impoverish, destroy and displace).

‘Sometimes, the course of history poses challenges that threaten our common humanity and common security. Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well; to work with allies and partners ... to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all. If you should act, act where you can, and act together.’ Don’t use the word ‘civilized’ for you have a long way to go before you qualify to be classed under that heading. You got Security Council clearance, yes, but don’t tell me that there was no arm-twisting (remember how you promised ‘dire consequences’ if Pakistan did not release the cold-blooded murderer called Raymond Davis who you claimed was a ‘diplomat’?) and don’t pretend that they’re still backing you to the hilt.

Torture chambers

Barack Obama talks about ‘principles of justice and human dignity’. He can preach ‘justice’ to those who are or were held at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and other offshore torture chambers run by the Pentagon.

He can have a chat about ‘human dignity’ with Private Bradley Manning, accused of revealing to the world the kind of civility, justice and dignity that US Forces have been dishing out in Afghanistan.

Obama is no fool. He knows, I am sure, the difference between singular and plural. He’s intelligent enough to know that there is sleight of hand in using words that imply collectivities, especially those that do not exist in the real world.

Stick to the singular Barack. That would be more honest. Then again, perhaps I am being optimistic. I am sure Art Buchwald would concur.

[email protected]