RAGGED THOTS

Well, one accusation that conservatives hurl at Barack Obama appears manifestly not true -- that he's another Jimmy Carter.

Yes, the jury is still out on his economic program and what to do with Iran, Afghanistan (two nations that bedeviled Carter) However, there's one solid foreign relations area where Obama has signaled that he doesn't give a damn -- human rights.

The Washington Post reports that, in a bow (kow-tow?) to China, Obama will not meet with The Dalai Lama when the Tibetan holy leader visits Washington this week. Instead, that meeting has been put off until Obama meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao next month. In one fell swoop, the signal is sent: "Talking about human rights is all well and good, but, well, when your banker says that he wants first dibs on your attention -- what are ya gonna do!?!?"

This will be the first time since 1991 that the Dalai will not meet with the President during a U.S. visit.

This raises all sorts of dark speculation: Was this dis of the Dalai Lama the price the Chinese Government exacted from the U.S. during Tim Geithner's visit this summer ago when he tried to convince Beijing that America would not default on its debt obligations? Hmmm...

Whether that's the case or not, Obama has tossed aside Carter's "human rights-first" policy as much as he has George W. Bush's "freedom agenda." The Dalai Lama is more than just a religious leader: He embodies the struggle for universal human rights and religious freedom for millions.

This action by the Obama administration is about the bluntest form of global Realpolitik since the days of Nixon and Kissinger.

Conservatives may still call Obama another Carter. After his Dalai Lama move, liberals may say, "If only."

(Thanks, ERA, for the heads-up.)

Labels: Barack Obama, Dalai Lama

# posted by Robert A. George @ 6:00 AM

Labels: Barack Obama, Chicago, Olympics

# posted by Robert A. George @ 1:10 PM

Sarah Palin must live a blessed life -- and not just because her new book is already #1 on the bestseller list, before it's even been released.

Thursday evening, her erstwhile nemesis David Letterman confesses that he's been the Horndog King of Late Night all these years: "I have had sex with women who worked for me on this show."

Dave? Our Dave with the toothy boyish grin? The guy who always joked about never getting girls? The one who -- when announcing that he was going to be a father with his long-time girlfriend -- said that, "I know what you're thinking -- Dave's had sex?" To make things sound even creepier, he used almost the exact same joke on Thursday: "I know what you're saying. I'll be darned, Dave had sex."

Well, after Thursday's show, all of Dave's viewers know that, not only has he had sex -- the 60-something guy has had a lot of sex and with not just one woman who works for him. How many? We don't know yet, but anything more than one or two opens Letterman up to accusations that he was taking advantage of his job as the Big Boss to prey on his female employees.

Right now, Letterman has presented himself as the victim: He was allegedly being extorted by a CBS employee who threatened to publicize all these activities if Letterman didn't pay him $2 million. He may well be the victim. But if even one of these other women suggests that she felt pressured to enter a relationship with Letterman because he was her boss, well, it's all over. He will look like a serial harasser -- even if he only "harassed" one woman.

But, now let's bring it back to Sarah Palin. The two engaged in a heated war of words this summer when he made jokes about Eliot Spitzer "hitting" on a Palin daughter, during a visit to New York. He followed that up with another joke about Alex Rodriguez "knocking up" a Palin daughter. As it happened, Letterman ended up having to apologize twice because he first tried to pass it off as if Palin was just confused as to what the joke was about. Then, it became very clear that there was real ambiguity as to which daughter he was referring to. The one who got pregnant was Bristol; the one who had accompanied her on a New York trip was the 14-year old Willow.

In fact, after Letterman gave his initial apology, we addressed a troubling underlying issue:

It's understandable that they could think he was making a joke about the daughter who did make the trip to New York or that Willow would think Letterman was talking about her. And Sarah Palin could be excused for feeling Letterman had it in for her, after Monday's "Top Ten" segment on the "Highlights of Sarah Palin's trip to New York City" included this line: "Bought make-up at Bloomingdale's to update her slutty flight attendant look."
Out of context, Letterman's "slutty flight attendant" look was, at the very least, tacky. Added to the other jokes at the Palins' expense and it begins to look like Letterman -- or his writers -- have some issues when it comes to women in general.

Labels: David Letterman, sarah palin

# posted by Robert A. George @ 9:57 AM