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Judge Sonia Sotomayor - Obama's Supreme Distraction to Pyongyang
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by Rhonda J Mangus | June 1, 2009 at 04:14 am
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"Pay no attention to the missiles behind the curtain. Look at my shiny new Supreme Court nominee."
Some are calling it Obama's riskiest choice in the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, while others are calling it "Obama's Supreme Distraction" to Pyongyang.
Pyongyang? Yes, Pyongyang. North Korea test fired not one, not two, not even three, but five new missiles yesterday and today in response to the United Nations Security Council’s condemnation of its recent nuclear test. The two moves have sparked a new international nuclear crisis that has implications for Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. This is North Korea week in capitals around the globe from Tokyo, to Beijing, to Seoul, to London, Moscow, and even Tehran. But not in Washington. The Obama Administration’s response is essentially to change the subject and distract media and public attention from the one thing it does not want to talk about, foreign policy.
Justice Souter announced his impending retirement on May 1st. President Obama said at the time that he wanted to have a replacement seated by the opening of the new Court term in October. Given the pressing events on the Korean peninsula, and the cooperation he is sure to get from the Democratic Senate, Obama could have waited a week to make this announcement and still made his time line for having a new justice seated. But he chose to make the announcement now, thereby guaranteeing that neither he nor his Administration will be pressed on their response to the North Korean missile crisis.
On North Korea, the president has said very little, making the following statement from the White House yesterday.
“By acting in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community. North Korea’s behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea’s isolation.”
President Obama said noting about what measures, if any, the United States will take to enforce that isolation. There has been no public word from the Administration about what steps it will take to convince China and Russia, North Korea’s international protectors, to go along with potential new sanctions. It has not even said whether the United States will seek to restart the Six-Party talks with regional players to address the crisis. The president’s, “What, me worry?” approach to North Korean aggression shows weakness that other adversaries of the United States will not mistake for nuance.
Author's Note: The article highlighted here is dated May 26, 2009. Consequently, all references to 'yesterday' should be read to mean, Monday, May 25, 2009.
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Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
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Recommendations (24)
francisrivera
Manila, Philippines
Roy C
Vancouver, Washington, United States
Paschen
Narita, Chiba, JapanKaren Hatter
All Locations, Everywhere, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 04:33 on June 1st, 2009
I would suggest the Supreme Court nominee is the media's publicly manufactured distraction, given their extensive coverage of the event, almost to the exclusion of all other news.
at 04:56 on June 1st, 2009
Karen, thank you for reading, commenting, and for the recommendation! Interesting point. However, do you think the media would publicly manufacture this distraction,..."almost to the exclusion of all other news", if they were not told to do so? It's an international crisis -- what ethical journalist wouldn't want it all over the news?
Thanks again:)!
at 06:15 on June 1st, 2009
What I read so far of her is some what conflicting. On one hand she seems to have a great resume and did some impressive things.
On the other she had the most of her cases overturned and came out with some rather racist and arrogant remarks that would have me worried.
at 12:48 on June 1st, 2009
Rhonda, I don't think that there is any deliberate manipulation there, but rather that the political left feels that the chaos and uncertainty of the world today is a transitional state to a promised land of the future where second-world dictators (communism is "second-world") won't feel the need to flex their muscles.
So, Obama's judgment is that some of this inevitable and will pass the longer he is in power.
I don't agree.
The leadership class of North Korea is psychopathic, and it has supported what would otherwise be deemed genocide if the practices of Kim Jong Il to his own people had been carried out by a foreign power imposing its will.
Clinton once said that he wanted to be the "domestic policy president", and I see Obama being cut from the same cloth on this. He seems to be extremely uncomfortable doing anything at all to counter the bullying and acting out of North Korea or any other group, apparently, other than the Taliban, where he has chosen to continue the "W" policies, strangely enough, and one of the few campaign promises that he has kept.
at 16:09 on June 1st, 2009
Roy, I'm not sure that I am following you in your first paragraph. Karen suggested "...the Supreme Court nominee is the media's publicly manufactured distraction, given their extensive coverage of the event, almost to the exclusion of all other news." I am simply inquiring as to whether the media was told to play it down. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they were told.
And, I just want to add, I didn't mean to imply that all journalists are unethical:).
at 17:34 on June 1st, 2009
We don't talk about North Korea in the media because they have been wrong about it on every turn.
They have been for face-to-face talks, when Bush wanted the six-party talks and talked about Clinton's success when that was a lie and Bush's failure to solve the problem as if, following their advice, the problem could have been solved.
The media has nowhere to go with the problem, and don't like what that means to their whole worldview and so they ignore it.
at 09:05 on June 3rd, 2009
The more media coverage on North Korea missile testing would deepen the communist party satisfaction that it could provoke terror. Obama's lack of enthusiasm to further elaborate did not mean the United States cannot exercise it's power to be the prefect for third world countries with little economic and military powers. Obama recently had the elimination of nuclear weapons summit in Prague and Im pretty sure the Obama administration is doing more than lip service to the media about North Korea's recently missile testing.