It has been absolutely astounding to watch and listen to the right wing media in the US  since the election of Barack Obama. It’s also been amusing to watch my own country’s conservatives, called the Liberal Party oddly enough.The right wing have failed to do anything of any substance in regard to improving the lot for their citizens when they are in power, but they are the quickest to jump to their feet with a waving finger and a ‘tut, tut, tut’ whenever their left wing opponent so much as looks a different way.

President Barack Obama, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia are never going to be all things to their country; no leader ever is. They will both make mistakes and make a judgement calls that they shouldn’t have. To say they won’t is ignorant and downright silly. Obama can trumpet ‘Yes We Can’ all he likes, but he has to make that powerful call to arms happen. So too with Kevin Rudd. He likes to travel overseas a lot, and does a lot of talking. But he is very slow to get things really happening. One theory behind this ’slow pace’ is because he does not want to be seen by the electorate as ‘going too fast’ and changing everything at once. When he has secured a second term in office, sometime after late 2010, which is highly likely, he will then start on a more bold agenda, having gained more trust and respect from a supsicious electorate.

President Barack Obama is taking the economic downturn by the horns. Is he doing the right thing? He is taking a huge gamble, but then again, so is every government around the world. As I have said in a previous post, no one has any real clue how the world can get back on its feet and different governments are trying different things. Australia and the US are sepnding their way out of the downturn, whereas Europe sees spending as dangerous. Who is right? In the end, they all could be. It could end up that a mix of a number if ideas could be the golden solution.

But instead of being helpul, the right wing media are not just saying that President Obama’s plan is bad and will make the economy worse, they have to go a ludicrous step forward and say that Obama is putting us ‘on the road to socialism.’ The politics of fear just will not die. The right wing love it and they can’t let it go. The right wing are loud, confident and full of puff and bluster, but unfortunately they have very little substance. Some widely respected political commentators are even thinking FOX News has delved into the world of fairytale and farce. Facts are becoming hard to come by.

I don’t see it as fairytale and farce. That would mean it is harmless. I find it dangerous and reckless. President Obama is being criticised for shaking hands with Hugo Chavez of Venezuala, bowing to the Saudi King, and wanting to meet with Ahmadinejad of Iran. The most hypocritical criticism was of President Obama bowing to the Saudi King. There are two glaring issues that I wish to address here. One, President Obama is doing what all of us should do when we meet a reigning monarch, bow or curtsey. It is proper protocol and even the royal families around the world demonstrate that protocol to each other. I witnessed the Princesses of Thailand bow to the Sultan of Brunei on one ocassion. He is a king, he is superior. Whether we believe it or respect it is immaterial. That is proper protocol and President Obama was only doing what was expected of him.

Secondly, I find it rich that FOX News is questioning why President Obama is bowing to the king of a nation that harbours terrorists. Need I remind FOX News of the very cosy relationship that the Bush family, not to mention Dick Cheney, had with the Saudi Royal family?

 Clearly, the finances and fortunes of the Saudi oligarchs and the Bush family have been intertwined for many years, and oil has been the lubricant of choice, even non-existent oil.

 

… the Gulf Oil Drilling Supply, of New York, Miami, and Bahrain, was Jeb Bush’s favorite artifice for oil and gas frauds:

“The fraud was rather simple. Richard Secord arranged through then Vice President George Bush Sr.’s old friend, Ghaith Pharaon, the then retired head of Saudi intelligence, for Gulf Oil and Drilling to purchase from the Saudi government oil and gas leases in the Gulf which were effectively worthless.”

http://www.hermes-press.com/BushSaud.htm

And again:

For his part, President Bush has been consistently unabashed and unapologetic about his “good relationship” with Crown Prince Abdullah, telling Barbara Walters on “20/20” recently:

“I’ve got a very good relationship with the Crown Prince Abdullah. … I believe he is … as we say, ‘the genuine article.’ He is a good, honest man. And, and in my discussions with the crown prince, he has assured me that the Saudi government will do everything they can to disrupt finances headed toward terrorists. I explained to the crown prince that obviously there is an issue in America when, you know, 16, I guess, of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, and therefore the American people are skeptical.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/10/17/215142.shtml

It is very clear that right wing commentators have conveniently developed a short term memory.  Right wing commentator Sean Hannity was almost disgusted seeing a picture of President Obama bowing to the Saudi King, but remained silent years ago when this picture was made public.

                    

Looks similar to this really, doesn’t it?

                    

Just like the right wing are gaining power, it is time that those of us who believe in a fair decent society, say enough is enough to these ignorant excuses for human beings. No wonder President Ortega of Nicaragua spent an hour cursing the United States at the latest Summit of The Americas. No wonder Hugo Chavez of Venezuala has done the same thing over the years. America was hated because of its treatment of others.

I don’t care if waterboarding and other interrogation techniques worked and gained information. Torture is WRONG, and we as a civilised people should not accept it under any circumstances. We criticise the arab for their brutal punishments, but we are no better. Don’t we say to our children to not lower themselves to the level of the bully or the cheat? We teach our kids to show a good example.

The next time on of our own is tortured for ‘information’ by brutal thugs in far distant lands, we should applaud them, as they are doing what they need to do to gain ‘vital information’. Does the right wing agree with that?

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Enjoy your day