THE BRITS GET IT RIGHT - AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  We've said here before that British journalists have a clearer fix on the Obamans than our own writers have, except for a very few courageous Americans who dare to question the perfection of The One.  Now Toby Harnden of London's Telegraph gives us his take on the ten mistakes Mr. Obama made yesterday in Cairo.  This is on-the-button stuff: 

It was, of course, very well-delivered and contained many fine phrases. But we know that Obama can do this and he's subject to the law of diminishing returns. The more I think about it, the more potentially problematic I find the speech. Here, for starters, are 10 mistakes he made:

1. "Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail." With this phrase, Obama dismissed the notion of American exceptionalism, the belief that the United States occupies a special place among nations.

I think it's significant that Harnden puts this first.  Obama simply is not in the tradition of American presidents.  Because he knows little history, he's unaware of the importance of this country.  He diminishes its role.  Enemies will notice.  And so will friends.

2. "I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk." While watering down America's status in the world, Obama has consistently sought to elevate his own status to that of a universal, healing symbol as if his very being, his inspiring life story, his Muslim background, his father from Kenya, his childhood spell in Indonesia will square the circle in the Middle East. If only it were as easy as that. This comes across as naive, even pandering.

Yup.  Pandering.  Naive.  Dangerous.  Adolescent.  Otherwise, it's okay.

3. "Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust.... On the other hand..."

Moral equivalence.  The real "Palestinian cause" would wipe Israel off the map. 

4. "The U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny it. I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality." Probably the worst passage of all. By highlighting the most superficial aspect of women's rights is the Muslim world, Obama dramatically underplayed the oppression women face. It's not people in the West who believe women who cover their hair are less equal, it's countries in the Middle East that dictate that all women are less equal.

Well said.  And the piece goes on like this.  Highly recommended. 

June 5, 2009