In light of my last post, I decided to write something positive about President Obama: I think most of his foreign policy decisions have been very good. While some think his brand of “YouTube diplomacy” is a little unstatesmanlike, I happen to think it might work. He told us that when it comes to countries with which we have issues, like Iran, he was going to do things differently — and he has done so. When he said he would sit down with Iran personally and negotiate, whereas Bush would not, some thought that was naive. But I think the way he is playing it has a chance of working. By using more diplomacy than before, and by making these gestures public for the people of the world to see on their computers, he puts the onus on other countries to step up and do their part. No longer can they accuse the United States of not negotiating, when it’s out there for the whole world to verify. Now Obama can say, “They wanted us to talk to them, and we’re talking to them.” So if countries still won’t do their part and make concessions, he can say, “Okay, we tried our best. Now send in the Tomahawks.”

I’m not sure about the Afghanistan strategy – many have tried to overthrow insurgents in Afghanistan and have left empty-handed. But I hope it works. It puts the focus back on Al Qaeda, and anything that makes Cindy Sheehan mad is just fine in my book. One thing I know for sure: you’ll never hear Obama call this a “surge.” He voted against the surge in Iraq, and even when it worked said he still would have voted against it. He’s not coming within ten feet of the word “surge.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came out last week and said that the United States is partially to blame for the drug-cartel-fueled crime in Mexico that is starting to come across our borders. Some said it was unfair to put the blame on us. I hate to agree with Hillary Clinton (oh, how it pains me to agree with her!), but she’s right. We are at fault. Are we the cause of all of Mexico’s problems? No. But we have some culpability here. Without any demand, supply would dry up — just ask Smith-Corona. You can’t condemn the results of a market and pin the whole blame on the supply side. That would be just as stupid as blaming McDonald’s for making people fat, and not putting any of the blame on people who eat it 5 times a week. Or blaming the tobacco companies for selling a product that everybody knows kills people when used as directed, and putting no blame on the people who continue to use the product. Oh, wait… nevermind.

I don’t agree with much of what Obama has done on the economic front, but when it comes to foreign policy, I think he has made some good decisions. I like that he is not reflexively saying “If Bush did it this way, I’m doing the exact opposite.” That’s the way Bush played it with respect to Clinton, and he messed up a few things as a result. Obama is listening to the generals on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, even if it means putting in more troops than Nancy Pelosi, one of the greatest military minds of our generation, would like. He’s trying to sound like someone who will work with other countries. And he’s making it clear that we will use diplomacy more than before, and if diplomacy fails, it will not be because we did not try. Many people think Bush could have done more before invading Iraq, and that obviously is part of his legacy. When it comes to Iran and North Korea, Obama does not want to make the same mistake as his predecessor, and I don’t think he will. I hope he succeeds.

I want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have been reading this blog faithfully. I can’t express how much I appreciate having the audience. The overall site traffic numbers have been increasing steadily, much of it being visits by previous viewers, which apparently means you aren’t sick of me yet. The only downside to this is that the spam comments I get have increased. It used to be one a week. Now it’s more like two a day. The spam has grown as the amount of site traffic has grown, so I guess I should consider increased spam the cost of writing posts that people seem to want to read. But I’ve had enough of it and I won’t put up with it any longer.

Because of the spam, mostly from Russia (we introduce them to capitalism, and they use it to give us spam), I am changing the comment feature on my blog. Your comments will no longer show up immediately — they will have to be approved first. I apologize for the inconvenience this might cause, and I really do not want this to limit your interaction with me on this blog. Please trust that as long as you’re commenting on an article and not trying to sell something, your comments will be approved. I check my e-mail pretty frequently, so you shouldn’t have to wait long. Hopefully after I have it like this for a while, the spam will stop, then perhaps I can switch comment approval off, but we’ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it. (Note: another option is to make people set up an account and log in in order to comment. I don’t like that option, as it makes it harder for people with mobile devices, but if others think that’s a better way to go, I’m willing to listen.)

On another note, I apologize for not posting as frequently lately. Work has been hectic and I am also frustrated by the fact that most of what I have been writing about has been looking at issues from a critical and often rather negative perspective. I don’t like to think of myself as a negative person, but apparently that’s what’s been coming out here lately, and I don’t like it. I need to work on that… Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.