As part of part of Hillsdale
College’s DC-based Kirby Center for the Constitution and Citizenship
“First Principles on First Fridays” lecture series, John Bolton spoke at the Heritage Foundation today.  9/11 is of course a somber anniversary for our country, and a fitting moment to reflect on how how American foreign policy is being shaped in the post-George W. Bush era.

In Ambassador Bolton’s view, it is not a pretty picture.  He graded President Obama’s performance as ”absent.”  As Bolton pointed out in his remarks, the administration is pursuing a course of “Neo-Isolationism,” the point of which appears to be withdrawing American forces and refraining from using American influence around the world because such actions might be objectionable to the global community.  Ambassador Bolton noted that while President Obama has declared he believes in “American exceptionalism ,” the President followed up that assertion by saying he believed in it just as he suspects “that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”  By this logic all countries are exceptional in their own view–which should make everyone feel good–but the problem is that then no country is truly exceptional, including America.  This approach, Bolton surmised, has been the guiding principle that unites the President’s repeated offers to negotiate directly with Iran, enabling of the dog-and-pony show that was former President Clinton’s visit to North Korean, and eagerness to cede power to the International Criminal Court–while presiding over the evisceration of the Defense budget.  Ambassador Bolton was particularly outspoken on the current situation in Honduras, in which the administration is siding with Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega and Fidel Castro and against Honduras’ constitutional process.  He gave that situation “an F.  No question about it.  This is a disgrace.”

After the lecture, Ambassador Bolton graciously granted Redstate an exclusive interview to follow up on the formation (or lack thereof) of foreign policy by President Obama’s national security team, Hugo Chavez’ mischief-making around the globe, and the ramifications of the Obama administration’s policy towards Israel.  Click here to listen to the full podcast.

Tragic and serious news from TPM today, folks. Not that we couldn’t see this coming.

According to eyewitness sources, under the apparently blind eye of the global media, the two leaders had lengthy conversations. The media covered the friendly photo of the initial handshake between the two leaders, then made much ado about an apparently-impertinent Chavez handing Obama a book in Spanish by Eduardo Galleano.

What has not been reported is that Obama, leaving his advisers behind, held lengthy private conversations with Chavez where only an interpreter was present.

We have a South American marxist oriented dictator who funds paramilitary groups and drug cartels intent on undermining democratic, capitalist leaning governments in the western hemisphere having private friendly conversations with the American President, and no one seems concerned?!

To remind you, Barack Obama was/is a member of the New Party, a known communist oriented organization that, to get their political endorsement back in the 90’s, Obama had to pledge allegiance to them.

Now, as President, Barack Obama is undermining the democratic government of Honduras, a long time American ally, and doing nothing to help Columbia fend off the drug cartels being funded by Chavez.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re so busy watching Barack Obama destroy American capitalism in his domestic policy, we’ve failed to pay attention that he is also destroying our long time foreign policy ideals too.

Tragic and serious news from TPM today, folks. Not that we couldn’t see this coming.

According to eyewitness sources, under the apparently blind eye of the global media, the two leaders had lengthy conversations. The media covered the friendly photo of the initial handshake between the two leaders, then made much ado about an apparently-impertinent Chavez handing Obama a book in Spanish by Eduardo Galleano.

What has not been reported is that Obama, leaving his advisers behind, held lengthy private conversations with Chavez where only an interpreter was present.

We have a South American marxist oriented dictator who funds paramilitary groups and drug cartels intent on undermining democratic, capitalist leaning governments in the western hemisphere having private friendly conversations with the American President, and no one seems concerned?!

To remind you, Barack Obama was/is a member of the New Party, a known communist oriented organization that, to get their political endorsement back in the 90’s, Obama had to pledge allegiance to them.

Now, as President, Barack Obama is undermining the democratic government of Honduras, a long time American ally, and doing nothing to help Columbia fend off the drug cartels being funded by Chavez.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re so busy watching Barack Obama destroy American capitalism in his domestic policy, we’ve failed to pay attention that he is also destroying our long time foreign policy ideals too.

Matthew Cunningham, over at Red County, has a post worth reading about Barack Obama’s disastrous foreign policy.

We need to pay attention to Obama’s foreign policy. It is shaping up to be fatal to American interests.

He has given only tepid support to democratic protestors in Iran — and only after much needling and pushing by Republicans.

He has burned bridges with the French, something no one thought possible.

He has insulted the British and refuses to embrace the idea of it being our strongest alliance.

He refuses to take on the North Koreans despite their intentions to launch a missile toward Hawaii.

And now Barack Obama is standing with Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, and a host of communist regimes and sympathizers in Central and South America on the issue of Honduras.

To recap: The Honduran President decided, like Hugo Chavez, to have an “election” in order to keep himself in office longer than the law allowed.

The Honduran Constitution requires that Presidents serve one term. Given Latin American history, it is a good thing. The Constitution also requires that referenda be approved by the Honduran Congress.

The President of Honduras decided to have a referendum on giving him more time in office, which the Congress blocked. He went ahead anyway. The Honduran Supreme Court told him to stop. He ignored them.

So the Congress and the Supreme Court ordered the military to remove the President of Honduras. It was no coup. It was an attempt by two co-equal branches of government from preventing the third co-equal branch from becoming a dictator.

Nonetheless, Barack Obama sees it differently. He is supporting the democratically ousted President of Honduras. He joins Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.

Meanwhile, people are still dying on the streets of Iran.

Via Fausta’s Blog:

Soldiers arrest Honduran president: AP+

MECIXO CITY, June 28 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Soldiers on Sunday arrested the Honduran president and took him to an air force base just before voting was to begin on a disputed constitutional election, according to the Associated Press.

President Manuel Zelaya’s private secretary told the AP that Zelaya was arrested and brought to a base on the outskirts of the capital, Tegucigalpa.

[snip]

Zelaya had pledged to go forward with a referendum on constitutional reform despite the opposition of the Supreme Court, the military, Congress and members of his own party.

Fausta has background here: if you don’t have time to read it, note that proto-dictator Hugo Chavez (and whoever’s channeling Fidel Castro this week) is spitting nails on this. Given that, as the Wall Street Journal notes, this entire thing got started over President Zelaya’s attempt to set up a referendum* in opposition to pretty much the opposition of the rest of the Honduran government, civilian and military… well.  A man is known by his friends, and I wish I knew what the equivalent Spanish idiom is.

Moe Lane

*One that would allow him to run for re-election.  The Honduras Constitution forbids that; given of what I know of South American history, this isn’t exactly surprising.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Someone needs to sue Santa Monica High School for education malpractice on behalf of the ill-educated Sean Penn. I mean, the man is nearly illiterate and he certainly has no grasp on history, philosophy, or statecraft. But his wacko left-wing inanities aside, it is his illiteracy that seems the most lamentable. Oh, it isn’t Rosie O’Donnell illiterate, hers is a special class of insensibility all by itself, but Penn’s brand is proof of the lowest quality of education. I mean the man can barely put two words together sensibly much less exhibit a grasp of grammar and syntax. It really is a crime how badly he’s been educated.

Take for instance his latest Huffington Post blathering where he seems to be saying that all we need to win the day in international relations is to give a “smile.” Aside from being childishly simplistic in concept, it has some of the worst word usage and syntax I’ve seen for a long time in what is supposed to be a leader of opinion (again, Rosie aside).

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Get used to having Hugo Chavez plunder Venezuela for decades to come. If anyone thinks that he will waste time holding other popular ballot elections concerning his regime’s policy initiatives, they have another think coming. The Chavez regime will interpret this do-over election as a mandate for rule by decree. It never really mattered all that much what the people of Venezuela thought of Chavez’s policy platform, but after these most recent elections, what little power the Venezuelan people had to determine the course of their country has largely evaporated.

A great pity. Venezuela is going through a lot of turmoil right now, especially with the fall in the price of oil. It could have used a change. Too bad it won’t get one.

Back in 2007, the voters of Venezuela said “thanks, but no thanks” to a ballot proposition that would have removed term limits for Hugo Chavez, thus effectively allowing him at least a decent shot at becoming President-for life.

Now, Chavez has invited the people he ostensibly loves so dearly to see the error of their ways and reconsider:

Venezuelans are due to vote on a proposal that would allow President Hugo Chavez and other elected officials to seek as many terms as they wish.

A “yes” vote in Sunday’s referendum would allow Mr Chavez to stay in office after his current term ends in 2012.

Mr Chavez has said the constitutional amendment is needed for the future of Venezuela’s socialist revolution.

But critics say it is designed to concentrate power in the president’s hands for decades to come.

A proposal to end presidential term limits was one of a package of 69 constitutional changes narrowly rejected in a 2007 referendum.

[. . .]

Mr Chavez celebrated 10 years in power earlier this month. His current term is due to end in 2012.

“Ten years is nothing,” Mr Chavez said at a news conference on Saturday. “I don’t know what they’re complaining about.”

“On Monday I’ll wake up looking beyond 2013, and that will give me more confidence in what we’re doing.”

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It’s hardly appealing:

WHEN a group of Venezuelan women staged an impromtu protest recently by dropping their trousers in front of armed national guards, President Hugo Chavez cheekily observed that the women were obviously in need of more attention than they received from their opposition husbands.

It was a characteristically inflammatory insult from the self-styled revolutionary who once called the former president George W Bush “the devil” and has already labelled President Barack Obama “el negro”.

Next Sunday Chavez’s bombastic wit and autocratic presidential style will once again be put to the test in a second referendum on his attempts to remove constitutional limits that prevent him from becoming president for life.

After narrowly losing a similar vote in 2007, Chavez has returned with a ferocious crackdown on opposition supporters and dire warnings of plots to overthrow him and hints that evil imperialists want to take over the oil industry, which supplies 93% of the country’s export revenues.

Last week he announced that two national guard officers had been arrested after “making contacts with the United States via e-mail [and] preparing destabilising plans against the president”.

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It must be interesting to make collection calls to the presidential palace in Caracas:

Venezuela’s state oil company is behind on billions in payments to private oil contractors from Oklahoma to Belarus, some of which have now stopped work, even as President Hugo Chavez funnels more oil revenue to social programs.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, says unpaid invoices jumped 39 percent in the first nine months of last year — reaching $7.86 billion in September. And that was when world oil was selling for $100 a barrel.

With prices plummeting by more than half, PDVSA is trying to renegotiate some contracts. But analysts say hardball tactics to reduce charges from crucial service providers could backfire by lowering Venezuela’s oil output. And foreign debt markets are reflecting jitters about Venezuela’s finances.

Pity the poor people of Venezuela who must suffer the consequences of Hugo Chavez’s incompetence.