(11 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Journalist Pepe Escobar gives his unique (or maybe not so unique) perspective and evaluation of Obama’s first 100 days and his views of the “real” Barack Obama separated from Obama’s rhetoric, with particular emphasis on US foreign policy and relations.
It may be impossible to judge the 1461 days of a US Presidency based only on the first 100. Pepe Escobar argues at least a pattern may be discerned. President Obama remains hugely popular – but the man, cool, calm and collected, may be more exciting than his policies. Ever the consensus builder, the pragmatist President will need to take more risks if he wants to accomplish real change, as well as being regarded by the majority of the population as The Fixer. So far, on the financial crisis and on the torture controversy – two key themes of his first 100 days – he was not as daring as he was expected to be.
Real News Network – April 29, 2009
What makes Barack run?
100 days in power, from the Obama shuffle to the Obama doctrine
Pepe Escobar, born in Brazil, is the roving correspondent for Asia Times and an analyst for The Real News Network. He’s been a foreign correspondent since 1985, based in London, Milan, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, and Bangkok. Since the late 1990s, he has specialized in covering the arc from the Middle East to Central Asia, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has made frequent visits to Iran and is the author of Globalistan and also Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad During the Surge both published by Nimble Books in 2007.
7 comments
Skip to comment form
Author
.
That sure describes Obama in a nut shell.
Too many things in the piece to start quoting them all but the point is clear, Obama is a very good politician, and politicians don’t take risks, they blow smoke and use mirrors instead of being bold and going for the gold.
Gotta love Pepe Escobar, dynamite mind there.