Barry Rubin Obama Administration

BARRY RUBIN: OBAMA SHOULD BE READING THE ‘MALTESE FALCON’ INSTEAD OF THE ‘POST AMERICAN WORLD’…….

Sam Spade:When a man’s partner is killed he’s supposed to do something about it. It doesn’t make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you’re supposed to do something about it….When one of your organization get’s killed it’s bad business to let the killer get away with it. It’s bad all around….”

Barry Rubin has some interesting things to say about Barack Obama’s foreign policy decisions of treating its allies like dirt in order to curry favor with those who would like nothing better than to see the United States completely reduced to a shell of a former shell.
According to Rubin (and the Tundra Tabloids whole heartedly agrees with him) : “To stand up for your values is to court confrontation and to “offend” the interlocutor.” There can be no other way to exist, and to keep on existing, than to stand your ground and let the chips fall where they may. Obama is having none of that, and it’s something of which the US’s chief foes are taking note of. KGS

By Barry Rubin

I often prefer to read fiction or history rather than books on contemporary politics because aside from giving a nice alternative to the grind of depressing current developments such works also provide a lot of perspective about the issues I study.
(One day remind me to write something about the uses of science fiction in comprehending international affairs. The key is getting used to looking at societies which may have very different premises and priorities.)
From time to time, then, I’m going to give passages from literary works which carry—through no intention of the author—some lessons for this moment. Goodness knows, at a time when the most basic principles of society and politics have been turned upside down and inside out such reminders are badly needed.
I. Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”
The complex plot has been expounded; the falcon statue is not the fabulous gold, jewel-encrusted one but rather made of lead; the criminal conspirators have fled. But Sam is left behind with Bridgette O’Shaughnessy, the playacting femme fatale who the detective forces to admit that she murdered his partner. Sam couldn’t stand Miles Archer but explains to Bridgette why he is nonetheless turning her in for killing Miles.
Sam Spade: “When a man’s partner is killed he’s supposed to do something about it. It doesn’t make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you’re supposed to do something about it….When one of your organization get’s killed it’s bad business to let the killer get away with it. It’s bad all around….”
Doesn’t this restate the basic principles of alliances? Some real loyalty is necessary, even if you don’t approve of everything the other country has done. It isn’t honorable to sell them out. And besides, to do so earns a bad reputation. If you behave that way others aren’t going to want to team up with you.
Maybe this is something the Obama Administration should think about before it goes on running after enemies to make them into friends and treating friends with considerably less respect.

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